PS 



ARTHUR GORDON PYM: 



OR, 



gfoi&nvttfc, iWuttni?, anfc gamiw. 



BEING THE 



EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES 

OF 

ARTHUR GORDON PYM, MARINER, 

OF NANTUCKET, NORTH AMERICA, 

DURING A VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEAS, 

and Hrs 

VARIOUS DISCOVERIES 

IN THE 

EIGHTY-FOURTH PARALLEL OF SOUTHERN LATITUDE. 



LONDON: 

PUBLISHED BY JOHN CUNNINGHAM, CROWN-COURT, 
FLEET-STREET, 

AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 



1841, 






I Q if 3 






PREFACE, 



Upon my return to the United States a few months ago, after the extraordinary series 
t>f adventures in the South Seas and elsewhere, of which an account is given in the 
following pages, accident threw me into the society of several gentlemen in Richmond, 
Va., who felt deep interest in all matters relating to the regions I had visited, and who 
were constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my Narrative to the public. I had 
•several reasons, however, for declining to do so, some of which were of a nature altogether 
private, and concern no person but myself; others not so much so. One consideration, 
-which deterred me was, that having kept no journal during a greater portion of the time 
in which I was absent, I feared I should not be able to write, from mere memory, a 
statement so minute and connected as to have the appearance of that truth it would really 
possess, barring only the natural and unavoidable exaggeration to which all of us are 
prone when detailing events which have had powerful influence in exciting the imagi- 
native faculties. Another reason was, that the incidents to be narrated were of a nature 
so positively marvellous, that, unsupported as my assertions necessarily must be (except 
by the evidence of a single individual, and he a half-bred Indian), I could only hope for 
belief among my family, and those of my friends who have had reason, through life, 
to put faith in my veracity — the probability being that the public at large would regard 
what I should put forth as merely an impudent and ingenious fiction. A distrust in my 
own abilities as a writer was, nevertheless, one of the principal causes which prevented 
me from complying with the suggestions of my advisers. 

Among those gentlemen in Virginia who expressed the greatest interest in my state- 
ment, more particularly in regard to that portion of it which related to the Antarctic 
Ocean, was Mr. Poe, lately editor of the "Southern Literary Messenger," a monthly 
magazine; published by Mr. Thomas W. White, in the city of Richmond. He strongly 
advised me, amongst others, to prepare at once a full account of what I had seen aud 
undergone, and trust to the shrewdness and common sense of the public— insisting, with 
great plausibility, that however roughly, as regards mere authorship, my book should be 
got up, its very uncouthness, if there were any, would give it all the better chance of 
being received as truth. 

Notwithstanding his representation, I did not make up my mind to do as he suggested. 
He afterward proposed (finding that I would not stir in the matter) that I should allow him 
to draw up, in his own words, a narrative of the earlier portion of my adventures, from 
facts afforded by myself, publishing it in the " Southern Messenger," under the garb of 
fiction. To this, perceiving no objection, I consented, stipulating only that my real 
name should be retained. Two numbers of the pretended fiction appeared, consequently, 
in the " Messenger" for January and February (1837), and, in order that it might cer- 
tainly be regarded as fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed to the articles in the table 
of contents to the magazine. 

The manner in which this ruse was received has induced me at length to undertake a 
regular compilation and publication of the adventures in question ; for I found, that in 
spite of the air of fable which had been so ingeniously thrown around that portion of my 



-k preface; 

statement which appeared in the •' Messenger'* (without altering or distorting a single 
fact), the public were still not at all disposed to receive it as fable, and several letters 
were sent to Mr. P.'s address, distinctly expressing a conviction to the contrary. I thence 
concluded that the facts of my narrative would prove of such a nature as to carry with 
them sufficient evidence of their own authenticity, and that I had consequently little to 
fear on the score of popular incredulity. 

This expos& being made, it will be seen at once how much of what follows I claim to 
be my own writing ; and it will also be understood that no fact is misrepresented in the 
first few pages which were written by Mr. Poe. Even to those readers who have not 
seen the " Messenger," it will be unnecessary to point out where his portion ends and my 
own commences ; the difference in point of style will be readily perceived. 

A. G. Ptm 

New York, July, 1838. 



*** It will be seen by a note at the end of the volume, that Mr. Pyoi's sudden death 
(of which we have no particulars) occurred while these sheets were passing through the 
press ; and that the narrative consequently breaks off abruptly in its most important 
part. But the exciting interest of the story, and the intrinsic evidence of its truth and 
general accuracy, induce us to give it to the public as it is, without further comment. 

The Publishers.. 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR G. PYM, 



CHAPTER I. 

My name is Arthur Gordon Pym. My father 
"was a respectable trader in sea-stores at Nan- 
tucket, where I was born. My maternal 
grandfather was an attorney in good practice. 
He was fortunate in every thing, and had spe- 
culated very successfully in stocks of the Ed- 
garton New Bank, as it was formerly called. 
By these and other means he had managed to 
lay by a tolerable sum of money. He was 
more attached to myself, I believe, than to any 
other person in the world, and I expected to 
inherit the most of his property at his death. 
He sent me, at six years of age, to the school 
of old Mr. Ricketts, a gentleman with only 
one arm, and of eccentric manners— he is well 
known to almost every person who has visited 
New Bedford. I stayed at his school until I 
was sixteen, when I left him for Mr. E. Ro- 
nald's academy on the hill. Here I became 
intimate with the son of Mr. Barnard, a sea 
captain, who generally sailed in the employ of 
Lloyd and Vredenburgh. Mr. Barnard is also 
very well known in New Bedford, and has 
many relations, I am certain, in Edgarton. His 
son was named Augustus, and he was nearly 
two years older than myself. He had been on 
a whaling voyage with his father in the John 
Donaldson, and was always talking to me of 
his adventures in the South Pacific ocean. I 
used frequently to go home with him, and re- 
main all day, and sometimes all night. We 
occupied the same bed, and he would be sure 
to keep me awake until almost light, telling me 
stories of the natives of the island of Tinian, 
and other places he had visited in his travels. 
At last I could not help being interested in 
what he said, and by degrees I felt the greatest 
desire to go to sea. I owned a sail-boat called 
the Ariel, and worth about seventy-five dollars. 
She had a half-deck or cuddy, and was rigged 
sloop fashion : I forgot her tonnage, but she 
would hold ten persons without much crowd- 



ing. In this boat we were in the habit of going, 
on some of the maddest freaks in the world 5 
and, when I now think of them, it appears to 
me a thousand wonders that I am alive to-day. 
I will relate one of these adventures by way 
of introduction to a longer andmore momentous 
narrative. One night there was a party at Mr. 
Barnard's, and both Augustus and myself were 
not a little intoxicated towards the close of it. 
As usual in such cases, I took part of his bed 
in preference to going home. He went to. 
sleep, as I thought, very quietly (it being near 
one when the party broke up), and without 
saying a word on his favourite topic. It might 
have been half an hour from the time of our 
getting into bed, and I was just about falling 
into a doze, when he suddenly started up, and 
swore with a terrible oath that he would not go 
to sleep for any Arthur Pym in Christendom, 
when there was so glorious a breeze from the 
south-west. I never was so astonished in my 
life, not knowing what he intended, and think- 
ing that the wines and liquors he had drunk had 
set him entirely beside himself. He proceeded 
to talk very coolly, however, saying he knew 
that I supposed- him intoxicated, but he was 
never more sober in his life. He was only tired, 
he added, of lying in bed on such a fine night 
like a dog, and was determined to get up and 
dress, and go out on a frolic with the boat. I 
can hardly tell what possessed me, but the 
words were no sooner out of his mouth than I 
felt a thrill of the greatest excitement and plea- 
sure, and thought his mad idea one of the most 
delightful and reasonable things in the world. 
It was blowing almost a gale, and the weather 
was very cold, it being late in October. I 
sprang out of bed, nevertheless, in a kind of 
ecstacy, and told him I was quite as brave as 
himself, and as tired as he was of lying in bed- 
like a dog, and quite as ready for any fun or 
frolic as any Augustus Barnard in Nantucket,- 
We lost no time in getting on our clothes and - 
hurrying down to the boat, She wa& lying, afc- 



6 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



the old decayed wharf by the lumber-yard of 
Pankey & Co., and almost thumping her sides 
out against the rough logs. Augustus got into 
her and baled her, for she was nearly half full 
of water. This being done, we hoisted jib and 
mainsail, kept full, and started boldly out to 
sea. 

The wind, as I before said, blew freshly from 
the south-west. The night was very clear and 
cold. Augustus had taken the helm, and I 
stationed myself by the mast, on the deck of 
the cuddy. We flew along at a great rate, 
neither of us having said a word since casting 
loose from the wharf. I now asked my com- 
panion what course he intended to steer, and 
what time he thought it probable we should get 
back. 

He whistled for a few moments, and then 
said crustily. "lam going to sea: you may go 
home if you think proper." 

Turning my eyes upon him, I perceived at 
once that, in spite of his assumed nonchalance, 
he Was greatly agitated. I could see him dis- 
tinctly by the light of the moon— his face was 
paler than any marble, and his hand shook so 
excessively that he could scarcely retain hold 
of the tiller. I found that something had gone 
wrong, and became seriously alarmed. At this 
period I knew little about the management of 
a boat, and was now depending entirely upon 
the nautical skill of my friend. The wind, 100, 
had suddenly increased as we were fast getting 
out of the lee of the land —still 1 was ashamed 
to betray any trepidation, and for almost half 
an hour maintained a resolute silence. I could 
stand it no longer, however, and spoke to Au- 
gustus about the propriety of turning back. As 
before, it was nearly a minute before he made 
answer or took notice of my suggestion. 

" By and by," said he at length — ■" time 
enough— home by and by." 

I had expected a similar reply, but there was 
something in the tone of these words which 
filled me with an indescribable feeling of dread. 
I again looked at the speaker attentively. His 
lips were perfectly livid, and his knees shook 
so violently together that he seemed scarcely 
able to stand. 

" For God's sake, Augustus," I screamed, 
now heartily frightened, "what ails you? — 
what is the matter ? — what are you going to 
do?" 

"Matter!" he stammered, in the greatest 
apparent surprise, letting go the tiller at the 
same moment, and falling forward into the bot- 
tom of the boat — " matter ! why nothing is the 
matter — going home — d — d don't you see ?" 

The whole truth now flashed upon me. I 
flew to him and raised him up. He was drunk 
— beastly drunk ; he could no longer either 
stand, speak, or see. His eyes were perfectly 
glazed ; and as I let him go in the extremity of 
my despair, he rolled like a mere log into the 
bilge-water from which I had lifted him. It 
was evident that, during the evening, he had 
drank far more than I suspected, and that his 



conduct in bed had been the result of a highly- 
concentrated state of intoxication — a state 
which, like madness, frequently enables the 
victim to imitate the outward demeanour of 
one in perfect possession of his senses. The 
coolness of the night-air, however, had had its 
usual effect — the mental energy began to yield 
before its influence — and the confused percep- 
tion which he no doubt then had of his perilous 
situation had assisted in hastening the catas- 
trophe. He was now thoroughly insensible, and 
there was no probability that he would be other- 
wise for many hours. 

z It is hardly possible to conceive the extremity 
of my terror. The fumes of the wine lately 
taken had evaporated, leaving me doubly timid 
and irresolute. I knew that I was altogether 
incapable of managing the boat, and that a 
fierce wind and strong ebb-tide were hurrying 
us to destruction. A storm was evidently ga- 
thering behind us ; we had neither compass nor 
provision ; and it was clear that, if we held our 
present course, we should be out of sight of land 
before daybreak. These thoughts, with a crowd 
of others equally fearful, flashed through my 
mind with a bewildering rapidity, and for some 
moments paralysed me beyond the possibility 
of making any exertion. The boat was going 
through the water at a terrible rate— full before 
the wind — no reef in either jib or mainsail — 
running her bows completely under the foam. 
It was a thousand wonders she did not broach 
to, Augustus having let go the tiller, as I said 
before, and I being too much agitated to think 
of taking it myself. By good luck, however, 
she kept steady, and gradually I recovered some 
degree of presence of mind. Still the wind was 
increasing fearfully; and whenever we rose 
from a plunge forward, the sea behind fell 
combing over our counter, and deluged us with 
water. I was so utterly benumbed, too, in 
every limb, as to be nearly unconscious of sen- 
sation. At length I summoned up the resolution 
of despair, and rushing to the mainsail, let it go 
by the run. As might have been expected, it 
flew over the bows, and, getting drenched with 
water, carried away the mast short off the 
board. This latter accident alone saved me 
from instant destruction. Under the jib only I 
now boomed along before the Avind, shipping 
heavy seas occasionally over the counter, but 
relieved from the terror of immediate death. I 
took the helm, and breathed with greater fre e 
dom as I found that there yet remained to usa- 
chance of ultimate escape. Augustus still lay 
senseless at the bottom of the boat; and as 
there was imminent danger of his drowning 
(the water being nearly a foot deep just where 
he fell), I contrived to raise him partially up, 
and keep him in a sitting position, by passing a 
rope round his waist, and lashing it to a ringbolt 
in the deck of the cuddy. Having thus arranged 
every thing as well as I could in my chilled and 
agitated condition, I recommended myself to 
God, and made up my mind to bear whatever 
might happen with all the fortitude in my power. 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM 



Hardly had I come to this resolution, when, 
suddenly, a loud and long scream or yell, as if 
from the throats of a thousand demons, seemed 
to pervade the whole atmosphere around and 
above the boat. Never while I live shall I 
forget the intense agony of terror I experienced 
at that moment. My hair stood erect on my 
head — I felt the blood congealing in my veins 
— my heart ceased utterly to beat, and without 
having once raised my eyes to learn the source 
of my alarm, I tumbled headlong and insensible 
upon the body of my fallen companion. 

I found myself, upon reviving, in the cabin 
of a large whaling-ship (the Penguin) bound 
to Nantucket. Several persons were standing 
over me, and Augustus, paler than death, was 
busily occupied in chafing my hands. Upon 
seeing me open my eyes, his exclamations of 
gratitude and joy excited alternate laughter and 
tears from the rough-looking personages who 
were present. The mystery of our being in 
existence was now soon explained. We 
hadjjeen run down by the whaling-ship, which 
was"close hauled, beating up to Nantucket with 
every sail she could venture to set, and conse- 
quently running almost at right angles to our 
course. Several men were on the look-out 
forward, but did not perceive our boat until it 
was an impossibility to avoid coming in con- 
tact—their shouts of warning upon seeing us 
were what so terribly alarmed me. The huge 
ship, I was told, rode immediately over us with 
as much ease as our own little vessel would 
have passed over a feather, and without the 
least perceptible impediment to her progress. 
Not a scream arose from the deck of the victim 
— there was a slight grating sound to be heard 
mingling with the roar of wind and water, as 
the frail bark which was swallowed up rubbed 
for a moment along the keel of her destroyer — 
but this was all. Thinking our boat (which it 
will be remembered was dismasted J some mere 
shell cut adrift as useless, the captain (Captain 
E. T. V. Block, of New London) was for pro- 
ceeding on his course without troubling himself 
further about the matter. Luckily, there were 
two of the look-out who swore positively to 
having seen some person at our helm, and 
represented the possibility of yet saving him. 
A discussion ensued, when Block grew angry, 
and, after a while, said that " it was no business 
of his to be eternally watching for egg-shells ; 
that the ship should not put about for any such 
nonsense ; and if there was a man run down, 
it was nobody's fault but his own— he might 
drown and be d— d," or some language to that 
effect. Henderson, the first mate, now took 
the matter up, being justly indignant, as well 
as the whole ship's crew, at a speech evincing 
so base a degree of heartless atrocity. He 
spoke plainly, seeing himself upheld by the 
men, told the captain he considered him a fit 
subject for the gallows, and that he would dis- 
obey his orders if he were hanged for it the 
moment he set his foot on shore. He strode 
aft, jostling Block (who turned very pale and 



made no answer) on one side, and seizing the 
helm, gave the word, in a firm voice, " Hard-a- 
lee !" The men flew to their posts, and the ship 
went cleverly about. All this had occupied 
nearly five minutes, and it was supposed to be 
hardly within the bounds of possibility that 
any individual could be saved — allowing any 
to have been on board the boat. Yet, as the 
reader has seen, both Augustus and myself 
were rescued ; and our deliverance seemed to 
have been brought about by two of those 
almost inconceivable pieces of good fortune 
which are attributed by the wise and pious to 
the special interference of Providence. 

While the ship was yet in stays, the mate 
lowered the jolly-boat and jumped into her 
with the very two men, I believe, who spoke 
up as having seen me at the helm. They had 
just left the lee of the vessel (the moon still 
shining brightly) when she made a long and 
heavy roll to windward, and Henderson, at the 
same moment, starting up in his seat, bawled 
out to his crew to back water. He would say 
nothing else — repeating his cry impa'iently, 
back water ! back water ! The men put back 
as speedily as possible ; but by this time the 
ship had gone round, and gotten fully under 
headway, although all hands on board were 
making great exertions to take in sail. In 
despite of the danger of the attempt, the mate 
clung to the main-chains as soon as they came 
within his reach. Another huge lurch now 
brought the starboard side of the vessel out of 
water nearly as far as her keel, when the cause 
of his anxiety was rendered obvious enough. 
The body of a man was seen to be affixed in 
the most singular manner to the smooth and 
shining bottom (the Penguin was coppered and 
copper-fastened), and beating violently against 
it with every movement of the hull. After 
several ineffectual efforts, made dining the 
lurches of the ship, and at the imminent risk 
of swamping the boat, I was finally disengaged 
from my perilous situation and taken on board : 
for the body proved to be my own. It ap- 
peared that one of the timber-bolts having 
started and broken a passage through the cop- 
per, it had arrested my progress as I passed 
under the ship, and fastened me in so extraordi- 
nary a manner to her bottom. The head of the 
bolt had made its way through the collar of the 
green baize jacket I had on, and through the 
back part of my neck, forcing itself out between 
two sinews, and just below the right ear. I 
was immediately put to bed — although life 
seemed to be totally extinct. There was no 
surgeon on board. The captain, however, 
treated me with every attention, to make 
amends, I presume, in the eyes of his crew, fur 
his atrocious behaviour in the previous portion 
of the adventure. 

In the meantime, Henderson had again put 
off from the ship, although the wind was now 
blowing almost a hurricane. He had not been 
gone many minutes when he fell in with some 
fragments of our boat, and shortly afterwards 



8 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER 



one of the men with him asserted that he could 
distinguish a cry for help at intervals amid the 
roaring of the tempest. This induced the 
hardy seamen to persevere in the search for 
more than half an hour, although repeated 
signals to return were made them by Captain 
Block, and although every moment on the 
water in so frail a boat was fraught to them 
with the most imminent and deadly peril. In- 
deed, it is nearly impossible to conceive how 
the small jolly they were in could have escaped 
destruction for a single instant. She was built, 
however, for the whaling service, and was fitted 
as I have since had reason to believe, with air- 
boxes, in the manner of some life-boats used 
•on the coast of Wales. 

After searching in vain for about the period 
of time just mentioned, it was determined to 
get back to the ship. They had scarcely made 
this resolve when a feeble cry arose from a 
dark object which floated rapidly by. They 
pursued, and soon overtook it. It proved to 
be the entire deck of the Ariel's cuddy. 
Augustus was struggling near it, apparently in 
the last agonies. Upon getting hold of him it 
was found that he was attached by a rope to 
the floating timber. This rope, it will be re- 
membered, I had myself tied round his waist 
and made fast to a ringbolt, for the purpose of 
keeping him in an upright position, and my so 
doing, it appeared, had been ultimately the 
means of preserving his life. The Ariel was 
slightly put together, and in going down her 
frame naturally went to pieces : the deck of 
the cuddy, as might be expected, was lifted, 
by the force of the water rushing in, entirely 
from the main timbers, and floated (with other 
fragments, no doubt) to the surface— Augustus 
was buoyed up with it, and thus escaped a 
terrible death. 

It was more than an hour after being taken 
on board the Penguin before he could give any 
account of himself, or be made to comprehend 
the nature of the accident which had befallen 
our boat. At length he became thoroughly 
aroused, and spoke much of his sensations 
while in the water. Upon his first attaining 
any degree of consciousness, he found himself 
beneath the surface, whirling round and round 
with an inconceivable rapidity, and with a 
rope wrapped in three or four folds tightly 
about his neck. In an instant afterward he 
felt himself going rapidly upward, when, his 
head striking violently against a hard substance, 
"he again relapsed into insensibility. Upon 
once more reviving, he was in fuller possession 
of his reason— this was still, however, in the 
greatest degree clouded and confused. He now 
knew that some accident had occurred, and 
that he was in the water, although his mouth 
was above the surface, and that he could 
breathe with some freedom. Possibly, at this 
period, the deck was drifting rapidly before 
tlie wind, and drawing him after it, as he floated 
upon his back. Of course, as long as he could 
have retained this position, it would have been 



nearly impossible that he should be [drowned- 
Presently a surge threw him directly athwart 
the deck ; and this post he endeavoured to 
maintain, screaming at intervals for help. Just 
before he was discovered by Mr. Henderson, 
he had been obliged to relax his hold through 
exhaustion, and, falling into the sea, had given 
himself up for lost. During the whole period 
of his struggles he had not the faintest recol- 
lection of the Ariel, nor of any matters in con- 
nexion with the source of his disaster. A 
vague feeling of terror and despair had taken 
possession of his faculties. When he was 
finally picked up, every power of his mind had 
failed him ; and, as before said, it was nearly 
an hour after getting on board the Penguin be- 
fore he became fully aware of his condition. 
In regard to myself, I was resuscitated from a 
state bordering very nearly upon death (and 
after every other means had been tried in vain 
for three hours and a half) by vigorous friction 
with flannels, bathed in hot oil — a proceeding 
suggested by Augustus. The wound in my 
neck, although of an ugly appearance, proved 
of very little real consequence, and I soon re- 
covered from its effects. 

The Penguin got into port about nine o'clock 
in the morning, after encountering one of the 
severest gales ever experienced off Nantucket. 
Both Augustus and myself managed to appear 
at Mr. Barnard's in time for breakfast, which 
luckily was somewhat late, owing to the party 
over night. I suppose all at the table were too 
much fatigued themselves to notice our jaded 
appearance ; of course, it would not have 
borne a very rigid scrutiny. Schoolboys, how- 
ever, can accomplish wonders in the way of 
deception, and I verily believe not one of our 
friends in Nantucket had the slightest suspicion 
that the terrible story told by some sailors in 
town of their having run down a vessel at sea 
and drowning some thirty or forty poor devils, 
had reference either to the Ariel, my com- 
panion, or myself. We two have since very 
frequently talked the matter over, but never 
without a shudder. In one of our conversa- 
tions Augustus frankly confessed to me, that in 
his whole life he had at no time experienced so 
excruciating a sense of dismay, as when on 
board our little boat he first discovered the ex- 
tent of his intoxication, and felt himself sink- 
ing beneath its influence. 



CHAPTER II. 



In no affairs of mere prejudice, pro or con, do 
we deduce inferences with entire certainty even 
from the most simple data. It might be sup- 
posed that a catastrophe such as I have just 
related would have effectually cooled my inci- 
pient passion for the sea. On the contrary, I 
never experienced a more ardent longing for the 



ADVENTURES OP ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



"wild adventures incident to the life of a navi- 
gator than within a week after our miraculous 
deliverance. This short period proved amply 
long enough to erase from my memory the 
shadows, and bring out in vivid light all the 
pleasurably exciting points of colour, all the 
picturesqueness of the late perilous accident. 
My conversations with Augustus grew daily 
more frequent and more intensely full of in- 
terest. He had a manner of relating his stories 
of the ocean (more than one half of which I 
now suspect to have been sheer fabrications) 
well adapted to have weight with one of my en- 
thusiastic temperament, and somewhat gloomy, 
although glowing imagination. It is strange, 
too, that he most strongly enlisted my feelings 
in behalf of the life of a seaman, when he 
depicted his more terrible moments of suffering 
and despair. For the bright side of the paint- 
ing I had a limited sympathy. My visions 
were of shipwreck and famine ; of death or 
captivity among barbarian hordes ; of a life- 
time dragged out in sorrow and tears, upon some 
gray and desolate rock, in an ocean unapproach- 
able and unknown. Such visions or desires — 
for they amount to desires— are common, I have 
since been assured , to the whole numerous race 
of the melancholy among men ; — at the time of 
which I speak I regarded them only as the 
prophetic glimpses of a destiny which I felt 
myself in a measure bound to fulfil. Augustus 
thoroughly entered into my state of mind. It 
is probable, indeed, that our intimate commu- 
nion had resulted in a partial interchange of 
character. 

About eighteen months after the period of the 
Ariel's disaster, the firm of Lloyd and Vreden- 
burgh (a house connected in some manner with 
the Messieurs Enderby, I believe, of Liverpool) 
were engaged in repairing and fitting out the 
brig Grampus for a whaling voyage. She was 
an old hulk, and scarcely seaworthy when all 
| was done to her that could be done. I hardly 
I know why she was chosen in preference to other 
iSood vessels belonging to the same owners, but 
so it was. Mr. Barnard was appointed to com- 
mand her, and Augustus was going with him. 
j While the brig was getting ready, he frequently 

I urged upon me the excellency of the opportu- 
nity now offered for indulging my desire of 
travel. He found me by no means an unwilling 
•istener, yet the matter could not be so easily 
irranged. My father made no direct opposition ; 
;>ut my mother went into hysterics at the bare 

' raention of the design ; and, more than all, my 
grandfather, from whom I expected much, 
rowed to cut me off with a shilling if I should 
iyer broach the subject to him again. These 
liffieulties, however, so far from abating my 

I I lesire, only added fuel to the flame. I deter- 
nined to go at all hazards; and, having made 
cnown my intention to Augustus, we set about 
Arranging a plan by which it might be accom- 
)lished. In the meantime I forbore speakirg 
any of my relations in regard to the voyage, 
>nd, as I busied myself ostensibly with my usual 



studies, it was supposed that I had abandoned: 
the design. I have since frequently examined 
my conduct on this occasion with sentiments of 
displeasure as well as of surprise. The intense 
hypocrisy I then made use of for the furtherance 
of my project — an hypocrisy pervading every 
word and action of my life for so long a period 
of time — could only have been rendered toler- 
able to myself by the wild and burning expec- 
tation with which I looked forward to the ful- 
filment of my long- cherished visions of travel. 

In pursuance of my scheme of deception, I 
was necessarily obliged to leave much to the 
management of Augustus, who was employed 
for the greater part of every day on board the 
Grampus, attending to some arrangements for 
his father in the cabin and cabin-hold. At night, 
however, we were sure to have a conference, 
and talk over our hopes. After nearly a month 
passed in this manner, without our hitting upon 
any plan we thought likely to succeed, he told 
me at last that he had determined upon every- 
thing necessary. I had a relation living at New 
Bedford, a Mr. Ross, at whose house I was in 
the habit of spending occasionally two or three 
weeks at a time. The brig was to sail about 
the middle of June (June, 1827), and it was 
agreed that, a day or two before her putting to 
sea, my father was to receive a note, as usual, 
from Mr. Ross, asking me to come over and 
spend a fortnight with Robert and Emmet (his 
sons). Augustus charged himself with the 
enditing of this note and getting it delivered. 
Having set out, as supposed, for New Bedford, 
I was then to report myself to my companion, 
who would contrive a hiding-place for me in 
the Grampus. This hiding-place, he assured 
me, would be rendered sufficiently comfortable 
for a residence of many days, during which I 
was not to make my appearance. When the 
brig had proceeded so far on her course as to 
make any turning back a matter out of question, 
I should then, he said, be formally installed in 
all the comforts of the cabin; and as to his 
father, he would only laugh heartily|at the joke. 
Vessels enough would be met with by which a 
letter might be sent home explaining the ad- 
venture to my parents. 

The middle of June at length arrived, and 
every thing had been matured. The note waff 
written and delivered, and on Monday morning 
I left the house for the New Bedford packet, as 
supposed. I went, however, straight to Augus> - 
tus, who was waiting for me at the corner of a 
street. It had been our original plan that I 
should keep out of the way until dark, and then 
slip on board the brig ; but, as there was now 
a thick fog in our favour, it was agreed to lose 
no time in secreting me. Augustus led the way 
to the wharf, and I followed at a little distance, 
enveloped in a thick seaman's cloak, which he 
had brought with him, so that my person might 
not be easily recognised. Just as we turned 
the second corner, after passing Mr. Edmund's 
well, who should appear, standing right in front 
of me, and looking me full in the face, but ol<£ 



10 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



Mr. Peters, my grandfather. " Why, bless my 
soul, Gordon," said he, after a long pause, 
" why, why — whose dirty cloak is that you have 
on ?" " Sir," I replied, assuming as well as I 
could, in the exigency of the moment, an air of 
offended surprise, and talking in the gruffest 
of all imaginable tones — " sir ! you are a 
sum'mat mistaken — my name, in the first place, 
been't nothing at all like Goddin, and I'd want 
you for to know better, you blackguard, than to 
call my new obercoat a dirty one !" For my 
life I could hardly refrain from screaming with 
laughter at the odd manner in which the old 
gentleman received this handsome rebuke. He 
started back two or three steps, turned first 
pale and then excessively red, threw up his 
spectacles, then, putting them down, ran full 
tilt at me, with his umbrella uplifted. He 
stopped short, however, in his career, as if 
struck with a sudden recollection ; and pre- 
sently, turning round, hobbled off down the 
street, shaking all the while with rage, and 
muttering between his teeth, " Won't do — new 
glasses — thought it was Gordon— d — d good- 
for-nothing salt-water Long Tom." 

After this narrow escape we proceeded with 
greater caution, and arrived at our point of 
destination in safety. There were only one or 
two of the hands on board, and these were 
busy forward, doing something to the forecastle 
combings. Captain Barnard, we knew very 
■well, was engaged at Lloyd and Vredenburg's, 
and would remain there until late in the evening, 
so we had little to apprehend on his account. 
Augustus went first up the vessel's side, and 
in a short while 1 followed him, without being 
noticed by the men at work. We proceeded at 
once into the cabin, and found no person there. 
It was fitted up in the most comfortable style, 
a thing somewhat unusual in a whaling vessel. 
There were four very excellent state-rooms, 
with wide and convenient berths. There was 
also a large stove, I took notice, and a remark- 
ably thick and valuable carpet covering the 
floor of both the cabin and state-rooms. The 
ceiling was full seven feet high, and, in short, 
every thing appeared of a more roomy and 
agreeable nature than I had anticipated. Au- 
gustus, however, would allow me but little time 
for observation, insisting upon the necessity of 
my concealing myself as soon as possible. He 
led the way into his own state-room, which 
was on the starboard side of the brig, and next 
to the bulkheads. Upon entering, he closed 
the door and bolted it. I thought I had never 
seen a nicer little room than the one in which I 
found myself. It was about ten feet long, and 
had only one berth, which, as I said before, 
was wide and convenient. In that portion of 
the closet nearest to the bulkheads there was a 
space of four feet square, containing a table, 
a chair, and a set of hanging shelves full of 
books, chiefly books of voyages and travels. 
There were many other little comforts in the 
room, among which I ought not to forget a kind 
of safe or refrigerator, in which Augustus 



pointed out to me a host of delicacies, both in 
the eating and drinking department. 

He now pressed with his knuckles upon 
a certain spot of the carpet in one corner of 
the space just mentioned, letting me know 
that a portion of the flooring, about sixteen 
inches square, had been neatly cut out and 
again adjusted. As he pressed, this portion 
rose up at one end sufficiently to allow the pas- 
sage of his finger beneath. In this manner he 
raised the mouth of the trap (to which the 
carpet was still fastened by tacks), and I found 
that it led into the after- hold. He next lit a 
small taper by means of a phosph* rus match, 
and, placing the light in a dark lantern, des- 
cended with it through the opening, bidding me 
follow. I did so, and he then pulled the cover 
upon the hole, by means of a nail driven into 
the under side — the carpet, of course, resuming 
its original position on the floor of the state- 
room, and all traces of the aperture being con- 
cealed. 

The taper gave out so feeble a ray that it 
was with the greatest difficulty I could grope 
my way through the confused mass of lumber 
among which I now found myself. By degrees, 
however, my eyes became accustomed to the 
gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, hold- 
ing on to the skirts of my friend's coat. He 
brought me, at length, after creeping and wind- 
ing through innumerable narrow passages, to 
an iron-bound box, such as is used sometimes 
for packing fine earthenware. It was nearly 
four feet high, and full six long, but very 
narrow. Two large empty oil-casks lay on the 
top of it, and above these, again, a vast quan- 
tity of straw matting, piled up as high as the 
floor of the cabin. In every other direction 
around was wedged as closely as possible, even 
up to the ceiling, a complete chaos of almost 
every species of ship-furniture, together with a 
heterogeneous medley of crates, hampers, barrels, 
and bales, so that it seemed a matter no less 
than miraculous that we had discovered any 
passage at all to the box. I afterward found 
that Augustus had purposely arranged the 
stowage in this hold with a view to affording 
me a thorough concealment, having had -only 
one assistant in the labour, a man not going out 
in the brig, 

My companion now showed me that one of 
the ends of the box could be removed at plea- 
sure. He slipped it aside and displayed the 
interior, at which I was excessively amused. 
A mattress from one of the cabin berths co- 
vered the whole of its bottom, and it contained 
almost every article of mere comfort, which 
could be crowded into so small a space, allow- 
ing me, at the same time, sufficient room for 
my accommodation, either in a sitting position, 
or lying at full length. Among other things, 
there were some books, pen, ink, and paper, 
three blankets, a large jug full of water*, 
a keg of sea-biscuit, three or four immense 
Bologna sausages, an enormous ham, a cold leg. 
of roast mutton, and half a dozen bottles of 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



11 



cordials and liqueurs. I proceeded immediately 
to take possession of my little apartment, and 
this with feelings of higher satisfaction, I am 
sure, than any monarch ever experienced upon 
entering a new palace. Augustus now pointed 
out to me the method of fastening the open 
end of the box, and then, holding the taper 
close to the deck, showed me a piece of dark 
whipcord lying along it. This, he said, ex- 
tended from my hiding-place throughout all the 
necessary windings among the lumber, to a 
nail which was driven into the deck of the hold, 
immediately beneath the trap-door leading into 
the state-room. By means of this cord I 
should be enabled readily to trace my way out 
"without his guidance, provided any unlooked- 
for accident should render such a step ne- 
cessary. He now took his departure, leaving 
"with me the lantern, together with a copious 
supply of tapers and phosphorus, and promising 
to pay me a visit as often as he could contrive 
to do so without observation. This was on the 
seventeenth of June. 

I remained three days and nights (as nearly 
as I could guess) in my hiding-place without 
getting out of it at all, except twice for the 
purpose of stretching my limbs by standing 
erect between two crates just opposite the 
opening. During the whole period I saw 
nothing of Augustus; but this occasioned me 
little uneasiness, as I knew the brig was ex- 
pected to put to sea every hour, and in the 
bustle he would not easily find opportunities of 
coming down to me. At length I heard the 
trap open, and presently he called in a low 
voice, asking if all was well, and if there was 
any thing I wanted. " Nothing," I replied ; 
" I am as comfortable as can be ; when will the 
"brig sail ?" " She will be under weigh in less 
than half an hour," he answered. " I came to 
let you know, and for fear you should be uneasy 
at my absence. I shall not have a chance of 
coming down again for some time — perhaps for 
three or four days more. All is going on right 
above board. After I go up and close the 
trap, do you keep along by the whipcord to 
where the nail is driven in. You will find my 
"watch there — it may be useful to you, as you 
have no daylight to keep time by. I suppose 
you can't tell how long you have been buried — 
only three days— this is the twentieth. I 
-would bring the watch, but am afraid of being 
missed." With this he went up. 
# In about an hour after he had gone I dis- 
tinctly felt the brig in motion, and congratu- 
lated myself upon having at length fairly com- 
menced a voyage. Satisfied with this "idea, I 
determined to make my mind as easy as pos- 
sible, and await the course of events until I 
should be permitted to exchange the box for 
the more roomy, although hardly more com- 
fortable, accommodations of the cabin. My 
first care was to get the watch. Leaving the 
taper burning, I groped along in the dark, fol- 
lowing the cord through windings innumerable, 
in some of which I discovered that, after toil- 



ing a long distance, I was brought back within 
a foot or two of a former position. At length 
I reached the nail, and, securing the object of 
my journey, returned with it in safety. I now 
looked over the books which had been so 
thoughtfully provided, and selected the expe- 
dition of Lewis and Clarke to the mouth of 
the Columbia. With this I amused myself for 
some time, when, growing sleepy, I extin- 
guished the light with great care, and soon fell 
into a sound slumber. 

Upon awaking I felt strangely confused in 
mind, and some time elapsed before I could 
bring to recollection all the various circum- 
stances of my situation. By degrees, however, 
I remembered all. Striking a light, I looked 
at the watch ; but it was run down, and there 
were, consequently, no means of determin- 
ing how long I had slept. My limbs were 
greatly cramped, and I was forced to relieve 
them by standing between the crates. Pre- 
sently, feeling an almost ravenous appetite, I 
bethought myself of the cold mutton, some of 
which I had eaten just before going to sleep, 
and found excellent. What was my astonish- 
ment at discovering it to be in a state of ab- 
solute putrefaction ! This circumstance occa- 
sioned me great disquietude ; for, connecting 
it with the disorder of mind I experienced 
upon awaking, I began to suppose that I must 
have slept for an inordinately long period of 
time. The close atmosphere of the hold might 
have had something to do with this, and might, 
in the end, be productive of the most serious 
results. My head ached excessively ; I fan- 
cied that I drew every breath with difficulty ; 
and, in short, I was oppressed with a multitude 
of gloomy feelings. Still I could not venture 
to make any disturbance by opening the trap or 
otherwise, and, having wound up the watch, 
contented myself as well as possible. 

Throughout the whole of the next tedious 
twenty-four hours no person came to my relief, 
and I could not help accusing Augustus of the 
grossest inattention. What alarmed me chiefly 
was, that the water in my jug was reduced to 
about half a pint, and I was suffering much 
from thirst, having eaten freely of the Bologna 
sausages after the loss of my mutton. I be- 
came very uneasy, and could no longer take 
any interest in my books. I was overpowered, 
too, with a desire to sleep, yet trembled at the 
thought of indulging it, lest there might exist 
some pernicious influence, like that of burning 
charcoal, in the confined air of the hold. In 
the mean time the roll of the brig told me that 
we were far in the main ocean, and a dull 
humming sound, which reached my ears as if 
from an immense distance, convinced me no 
ordinary gale was blowing. I could not ima- 
gine a reason for the absence of Augustus. 
We were surely far enough advanced on our 
voyage to allow of my going up. Some acci- 
dent might have happened to him ; but I could 
think of none which would account for his 
suffering me to remain so long a prisoner, ex- 



12 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



-cept, indeed, his having suddenly died or fallen 
overboard, and upon this idea I could not dwell 
•with any degree of patience. It was possible 
that we had been baffled by head winds, and 
were still in the near vicinity of Nantucket. 
This notion, however, I was forced to abandon ; 
for, such being the case, the brig must have 
frequently gone about ; and I was entirely sa- 
tisfied, from her continual inclination to the 
.larboard, that she had been sailing all along 
with a steady breeze on her starboard quarter. 
Besides, granting that we were still in the 
^neighbourhood of the island, why should not 
Augustus have visited me and informed me of 
the circumstance ? Pondering in this manner 
upon the difficulties of my solitary and cheer- 
less condition, I resolved to wait yet another 
twenty-four hours, when, if no relief were ob- 
tained, I would make my way to the trap, and 
endeavour either to hold a parley with my 
friend, or get, at least, a little fresh air through 
the opening, and a further supply of water 
from his state-room. While occupied with this 
thought, however, I fell, in spite of every ex- 
ertion to the contrary, into a state of profound 
sleep, or rather stupor. My dreams were of 
the most terrific description. Every species of 
calamity and horror befel me. Among other 
miseries, I was smothered to death between 
huge pillows, by demons of the most ghastly 
and ferocious aspect. Immense serpents held 
me in their embrace, and looked earnestly in 
my face with their fearfully shining eyes. 
Then deserts, limitless, and of the most forlorn 
and awe-inspiring character, spread themselves 
out before me. Immensely tall trunks of trees, 
gray and leafless, rose up in endless succession 
as far as the eye could reach. Their roots 
were concealed in wide-spreading morasses, 
whose dreary water lay intensely black, still, 
and altogether terrible beneath. And the 
strange trees seemed endowed with a human 
vitality, and, waving to and fro their skeleton 
arms, were crying to the silent waters for 
mercy, in the shrill and piercing accents of the 
most acute agony and despair. The scene 
changed ; and I stood, naked and alone, amid 
the burning sand-plains of Zahara. At my 
feet lay crouched a fierce lion of the tropics. 
Suddenly his wild eyes opened and fell upon 
me. With a convulsive bound he sprang to 
his feet, and laid bare his horrible teeth. In 
another instant there burst from his red throat 
a roar like the thunder of the firmament, and I 
fell impetuously to the earth. Stifling, in a 
paroxysm of terror, I at last found myself par- 
tially awake. My dream, then, was not all a 
dream. Now, at least, I was in possession of 
my senses. The paws of some huge and real 
monster were pressing heavily upon my bosom 
— his hot breath was in my ear— and his white 
and ghastly fangs were gleaming upon me 
through the gloom. 

Had a thousand lives hung upon the move- 
ment of a limb or the utterance of a syllable, 
I could have neither stirred nor spoken. The 



beast, whatever it was, retained his position 
without attempting any immediate violence, 
while I lay in an utterly helpless, and, I fan- 
cied, a dying condition beneath him. I felt 
that my powers of body and mind were fast 
leaving me— in a word, that I was perishing, 
and perishing of sheer fright. My brain swam 
— I grew deadly sick — my vision failed— even 
the glaring eyeballs above me grew dim. 
Making a last strong effort, I at length breathed 
a faint ejaculation to God, and resigned myself 
to die. The sound of my voice seemed to 
arouse all the latent fury of the animal. He 
precipitated himself at full length upon my 
body ; but what was my astonishment, when, 
with a long and low whine, he commenced lick- 
ing my face and hands with the greatest eager- 
ness, and with the most extravagant demon- 
strations of affection and joy ! I was bewil- 
dered, utterly lost in amazement — but I could 
not forget the peculiar whine of my dog Tiger, 
and the odd manner of his caresses I well 
knew. It was he. I experienced a sudden 
rush of blood to my temples — a giddy and over- 
powering sense of deliverance and re-anima- 
tion. I rose hurriedly from the mattress upon 
which I had been lying, and, throwing myself 
upon the neck of my faithful follower and 
friend, relieved the long oppression of my bosom 
in a flood of the most passionate tears. 

As upon a former occasion, my conceptions 
were in a state of the greatest indistinctness 
and confusion after leaving the mattress. For 
a long time I found it nearly impossible to con- 
nect any ideas; but, by very slow degrees, my 
thinking faculties returned, and I again called 
to memory the several incidents of my con- 
dition. For the presence of Tiger I tried in 
vain to account ; and after busying myself with 
a thousand different conjectures respecting him, 
was forced to content myself with rejoicing 
that he was with me to share my dreary so^ 
litude, and render me comfort by his caresses. 
Most people love their dogs; but for Tiger I 
had an affection far more ardent than common, 
and never, certainly, did any creature more 
truly deserve it. For seven years he had been 
my inseparable companion, and in a multitude 
of instances had given evidence of all the 
noble qualities for which we value the animal. 
I had rescued him, when a puppy, from the 
clutches of a malignant little villain in Nan- 
tucket, who was leading him, with a rope 
around his neck, to the water ; and the grown 
dog repaid the obligation about three years af- 
terward, by saving me from the bludgeon of a 
street-robber. 

Getting now hold of the watch, I found, 
upon applying it to my ear, that it had again 
run down ; but at this I was not at all sur- 
prised, being convinced, from the peculiar 
state of my feelings, that I had slept, as before, 
for a very long period of time ; how long, it 
was of course impossible to say. I was burn- 
ing up with fever, and my thirst was almost in- 
tolerable. I felt about the box for my little 



ADVx.jn 



remaining supply of water ; for I had no light, 
the taper having burnt to the socket of the 
lantern, and the phosphorus box not coming 
readily to hand. Upon finding the jug, how- 
ever, I discovered it to be empty — Tiger, no 
doubt having been tempted to drink it, as well 
as to devour the remnant of mutton, the bone 
of which lay, well picked, by the opening of 
the box. The spoiled meat I could well spare, 
"but my heart sank as I thought of the water. 
I was feeble in the extreme, so much so that I 
shook all over, as with an ague, at the slightest 
movement or exertion. To add to my troubles, 
the brig was pitching and rolling with great 
violence, and the oil-casks which lay upon my 
box were in momentary danger of falling down, 
so as to block up the only way of ingress or 
egress. I felt, also, terrible sufferings from sea- 
sickness. These considerations determined me 
to make my way, at all hazards, to the trap, 
and obtain immediate relief, before I should be 
incapacitated from doing so altogether. Hav- 
ing come to (his resolve, I again felt about for 
the phosphorus box and tapers. The former I 
found after some little trouble ; but not disco- 
vering the tapers as soon as I had expected (for 
I remembered very nearly the spot in which I 
had placed them), I gave up the search for the 
present, and bidding Tiger lie quiet, began at 
once my journey towards the trap. 

In this attempt my great feebleness became 
more than ever apparent. It was with the 
utmost difficulty I could crawl along at all, 
and very frequently my limbs sunk suddenly 
from beneath me ; when, falling prostrate on 
my face, I would remain for some minutes in a 
state bordering on insensibility. Still I strug- 
gled forward by slow degrees, dreading every 
moment that I should swoon amid the narrow 
and intricate windings of the lumber, in which 
event I had nothing but death to expect as the 
result. At length, upon making a push for- 
ward with all the energy I could command, I 
struck my forehead violently against the sharp 
corner of an iron-bound crate. The accident 
only stunned me for a few moments; but I 
found, to my inexpressible grief, that the quick 
and violent roll of the vessel had thrown the 
crate entirely across my path, so as effectually 
to block up the passage. With my utmost 
exertions I could not move it a single inch 
from its position, it being closely wedged in 
among the surrounding boxes and ship-furni- 
ture. It became necessary, therefore, enfeebled 
as I was, either to leave the guidance of the 
whipcord and seek out a new passage, or to 
climb over the obstacle, and resume the path 
on the other side. The former alternative pre- 
sented too many difficulties and dangers to be 
thought of without a shudder. In my present 
weak state of both mind and body, I should 
infallibly lose my way if I attempted it, and 
perish miserably amid the dismal and disgust- 
ing labyrinths of the hold. I proceeded, there- 
fore, without hesitation to summon up all 



my remaining strength and fortitude, as I best 
might, to clamber over the crate. 

Upon standing erect, with this end in view, I 
found the undertaking even a more serious task 
than my fears had led me to imagine. On 
each side of the narrow passage arose a com- 
plete wall of various heavy lumber, which the 
least blunder on my part might be the means of 
bringing down uponj my head ; or, if this acci- 
dent did not occur, the path might be effect- 
ually blocked up against my return by the des- 
cending mass, as it was in front by the obstacle 
there. The crate itself was a long and un- 
wieldy box, upon which no foothold could be 
obtained. In vain I attempted, by every 
means in my power, to reach the top, with the 
hope of being thus enabled to draw myself up. 
Had I succeeded in reaching it, it is certain 
that my strength~would have proved utterly in- 
adequate to the task of getting over, and it was 
better in every respect that I failed. At length, 
in a desperate effort to force the crate from its 
ground, I felt a strong vibration in the side 
next to me. I thrust my hand eagerly to the 
edge of the planks, and found that a very large 
one was loose. With my pocket-knife, which 
luckily I had with me, I succeeded, after great 
labour, in prying it entirely off ; and, getting 
through the aperture, discovered, to my exceed- 
ing joy, that there were no boards on the opposite 
side— in other words, that the top was wanting, 
it being the bottom through which I had forced 
my way. I now met with no important diffi- 
culty in proceeding along the line until I finally 
reached the nail. With a beating heart J stood 
erect, and with a gentle touch pressed against 
the cover of the trap. It did not rise as soon 
as I had expected, and I pressed it with some- 
what more determination, still dreading some 
other person than Augustus might b« in his 
state-room. The door, however, to my aston- 
ishment, remained steady, and I became some- 
what uneasy, for I knew that it had formerly 
required little or no effort to remove it. I 
pushed it strongly— it was nevertheless firm ; 
with all my strength— it still did not give way ; 
with rage, with fury, with despair — it set at 
defiance my utmost efforts ; and it was evident, 
from the unyielding nature of the resistance, 
that the hole had either been discovered and 
effectually nailed up, or that some immense 
weight had been placed upon it, which it was 
useless to think of removing. 

My sensations were those of extreme horror 
and dismay. In vain I attempted to reason on 
the probable cause of my being thus entombed. 
I could summon up no connected chain of re- 
flection, and, sinking on the floor, gave way, 
unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings, 
in which the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, 
suffocation, and premature interment, crowded 
upon me as the prominent disasters to be en- 
countered. At length there returned to me 
some portion of presence of mind. I arose, 
and felt with my fingers for the seams or cracks 



14 



THE NOV! 



of the aperture. Having found them, I ex- 
amined them closely to ascertain if they 
emitted any light from the state-room ; but 
none was visible. I then forced the pen -blade 
of my knife through them, until I met with 
some hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I 
discovered it to be a solid mass of iron, which, 
from its peculiar wavy feel as I passed the 
blade along it, I concluded to be a chain-cable. 
The only course now left me was to retrace my 
"way to the box, and there either yield to my 
sad fate, or try^so to tranquillise my mind as to 
admit of my arranging some plan of escape. 
I immediately set about the attempt, and suc- 
ceeded, after innumerable difficulties, in getting 
back. As I sank, utterly exhausted, upon the 
mattress, Tiger threw himself at full length by 
my side, and seemed as if desirous, by his ca- 
lesses, of consoling me in my troubles, and 
Urging me to bear them with fortitude. 

The singularity of his behaviour at length 
forcibly arrested my attention. After licking 
my face and hands for some minutes, he would 
suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. 
Upon reaching out my hand towards him, I 
then invariably found him lying on his back, 
tvith his paws uplifted. This conduct so fre- 
quently repeated, appeared strange, and I 
could, in no manner, account for it. As the 
dog seemed distressed, I concluded that he had 
received some injury; and, taking his paws in 
my hands, I examined them one by one, but 
found no sign of any hurt. I then supposed 
him hungry, and gave him a large piece of ham, 
which he devoured with avidity—afterward, 
however, resuming his extraordinary ma- 
noeuvres. I now imagined that he was suffer- 
ing, like myself, the torments of thirst, and 
"Was about adopting this conclusion as the true 
one, when the idea occurred to me that I had 
as yet only examined his paws, and that there 
might possibly be a wound upon some portion 
of his body or head. The latter I felt carefully 
over, but found nothing. On passing my hand, 
however, along his back, I perceived a slight 
erection of the hair extended completely across 
it. Probing this with my finger, 1 discovered 
a string, and, tracing it up, found that it en- 
circled the whole body. Upon a closer scru- 
. tiny, I came across a small slip of what had 
the feeling of letter paper, through which the 
string had been fastened in such a manner as to 
bring it immediately beneath the left shoulder 
of the animal. 



CHAPTER .III. 



The thought instantly occurred to me that 
the paper was a note from Augustus, and that 
some unaccountable accident having happened 
to prevent his relieving me from my dungeon, 
jhe had devised this method of acquainting me 



rEWSPAPER. 

with the true state of affairs. Trembling with 
eagerness, I now commenced another search 
for my phosphorus matches and tapers. I had 
a confused recollection of having put them care- 
fully away just before falling asleep ; and, in- 
deed, previously to my last journey to the trap, 
I had been able to remember the exact spot 
where I had deposited them. But now I en- 
deavoured in vain to call it to mind, and busied 
myself for a full hour in a fruitless and vexatious 
search for the missing articles ; never, surely, 
was there a more tantalizing slate of anxiety 
and suspense. At length, while groping about, 
with my head close to the ballast, near the 
opening of the box, and outside of it, I per- 
ceived a faint glimmering of light in the direc- 
tion of the steerage, and I endeavoured to make 
my way towards it, as it appeared to be but a few 
feet from my position. Scarcely had I moved 
with this intention, when I lost sight of the 
glimmer entirely, and, before I could bring it 
into view again, was obliged to feel along by 
the box until I had exactly resumed my original 
situation. Now, moving my head with caution 
to and fro, I found that, by proceeding slowly, 
with great care, in an opposite direction to that 
in which 1 had at first started, I was enabled 
to draw near the light, still keeping it in view. 
Presently I came directly upon it (having 
squeezed my way through innumerable narrow 
windings), and found that it proceeded from 
some fragments of my matches lying in an 
empty barrel turned upon its side. I was won- 
dering how they came in such a place, w r hen 
my hand fell upon two or three pieces of taper- 
wax, which had been evidently mumbled by 
the dog. I concluded at once that he had de- 
voured the whole of my supply of candles, and 
I felt hopeless of being ever able to read the note 
of Augustus. The small remnants of the wax 
were so mashed up among other rubbish in the 
barrel, that I despaired of deriving any service 
from them, and left them as they were. The 
phosphorus, of which there was only a speck 
or two, I gathered up as well as I could, and 
returned with it, after much difficulty, to my 
box, where Tiger had all the while remained. 
What to do next I could not tell. The hold 
was so intensely dark that I could not see 
my hand, however close 1 would hold it to my 
face. The white slip of paper could barely be 
discerned, and not even that when I looked at 
it directly ; by turning the exterior portions of 
the retina towards it— that is to say, by survey- 
ing it slightly askance, I found that it became in 
some measure perceptible. Thus the gloom of 
my prison may be imagined, and the note of my 
friend, if indeed it were a note from him, seemed 
only likely to throw me into further trouble, by 
disquieting to no purpose my already enfeebled 
and agitated mind. In vain I revolved in my 
brain a multitude of absurd expedients for pro- 
curing light— such expedients precisely as a 
man in the perturbed sleep occasioned by opium 
would be apt to fall upon for a similar purpose, 
each and all of which appear by turns to the 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHTJ 



GORDON PYlVf. 



15 



dreamer the most reasonable and preposterous 

seemed rationa 1 and wn en g uined 

uTete'l'pSd'thVsUp of paper on the 
lack of a book, and collecting the fragments of 
th phosphorus matches which I had brought 
from the barrel, laid them together on the 
Ter then/with the palm of my hand 
rXed the whole over quickly ye 8 ^hont 
clear light diffused itself immediately throughout 
Jhe whole surface ; and had there been any writ- 
ing upon it, I should not have «P«^^ 
lefst difficulty, I am sure, m reading it Not a 
-syllable was there, however-no thing but a 
dreary and unsatisfactory blank ■, ^ ittunn- 
nation died away in a few seconds, and my heart 
died away within me as it went. 

I have before stated more than once _ tha fc my 
intellect, for some period prior to this had been 
in a condition nearly bordering ?n idwtey. 
There were, to be sure, momentary mteivals of 
perfect sanity, and, now and then even of energy 
Lbut these were few. It must be remembered 
that I had been, for many days certainly, in- 
haling the almost pestilential atmosphere 
of a close hold in a whaling vessel, and a long 
portion of that time but scantily supplied with 
water. For the last fourteen or fifteen hours I 
had none; nor had I slept during that time. 
Salt provisions of the most exciting kind had 
been my chief, and, indeed, since the > loss , of my 
mutton, my only supply of food wi h the ^ex- 
ception of the sea-biscuit ; and these latter were 
utterly useless to me, as they were too dry and 
hard to be swallowedin the swollen and parched 
condition of my throat. I was now in a high 
state of fever, and in every respect exceedingly 
ill. This will account for the fact, that many 
miserable hours of despondency elapsed alter 
my last adventure with the phosphorus, before 
the thought suggested itself that I had examined 
only one side of the paper. I shall not attempt 
to describe my feeling of rage (for I believe 1 
was more angry than any thing else) when the 
-egregious oversight I had committed flashed 
suddenly upon my perception. The blunder 
itself would have been unimportant had not my 
own folly and impetuosity rendered it other- 
wise; in my disappointment at not finding some 
words upon the slip, I had childishly torn it in 
pieces and thrown it away, it was impossible to 
fiay where. 

From the worst part of this dilemma I was 
relieved by the sagacity of Tiger. Having got, 
after a long search, a small piece of the note, I 
put it to the dog's nose, and endeavoured to 
make him understand that he must bring me 
the rest of it. To my astonishment (for I had 
taught him none of the usual tricks for which 
his breed are famous) he seemed to enter at 
once into my meaning, and, rummaging about 
for a few moments, soon found another consi- 
derable portion. Bringingme this, he paused 



a while, and rubbing his nose against my hand, 
appeared to be waiting for my approval of what 
he had done. I patted him on the head, when 
he immediately made, off again. It was now 
some minutes before he came back ; but when 
he did come, he brought with him a large slip, 
which proved to be all the paper missing, it 
havinsr been torn, it seems, only into threepieces. 
Luckily, I had no trouble in finding what few 
fragments of the phosphorus were left, being 
guided by the indistinct glow one or two of the 
particles still emitted. My difficulties had 
taught me the necessity of caution, and I now 
took time to reflect upon what I was about to 
do. It was very probable, I considered, that 
some words were written upon that side of the 
paper which had not been examined — but which 
side was that ? Fitting the pieces together gave 
me no clue in this respect, although it assured 
me that the words (if there were any) would be 
found all on one side, and connected in a proper 
manner, as written. There was the greater ne- 
cessity of ascertaining the point in question 
beyond a doubt, as the phosphorus remaining 
would be altogether insufficient for a third at- 
tempt, should I fail in the one I was now about 
to make. I placed the paper on a book as? 
before, and sat for some minutes thoughtfully 
revolving the matter over in my mind. At last 
I thought it barely possible that the written side 
might have some unevenness on its surface, 
which a delicate sense of feeling might enable 
me to detect. I determined to make the expe- 
riment, and passed my finger very carefully 
over the side which first presented itself; no- 
thing however was perceptible, and I turned 
the paper, adjusting it on the book. I now 
again carried my forefinger cautiously along, 
when I was aware of an exceedingly slight, but 
still discernible glow, which followed as it 
proceeded. This, I knew, must arise from 
some very minute remaining particles of the 
phosphorus with which I had covered the paper 
in my previous attempt. The other, or under 
side, then, was that on which lay the writing, 
if writing there should finally prove to be. 
Again I turned the note, and went to work as I 
had previously done. Having rubbed in the 
phosphorus, a brilliancy ensued as before; 
but this time several lines of MS. in a large 
hand, and apparently in red ink, became dis- 
tinctly visible. The glimmer, although suffi- 
ciently bright, was but momentary. Still, had 
I not been too greatly excited, there would have 
been ample time enough for me to peruse the 
whole three sentences before me, for I saw there 
were three. In my anxiety, however, to read 
all at once, I succeeded only in reading the 
seven concluding words, which thus appeared 
— "blood ; your life depends upon lying close." 
Had T been able to ascertain the entire con- 
tents of the note, the full meaning of the admo- 
nition which my friend had thus attempted to 
cohvey, that admonition, even although it should 
have revealed a story of disaster the most un- 
speakable, could not, I am firmly convince^ 



16 



THE NOVEL NEAVSPAPEF, 



have imbued my mind with one tithe of the 
harrowing and yet indefinable horror with 
which I was inspired by the fragmentary warn- 
ing thus received. And "blood" too, that 
word of all words — so rife at all times with mys- 
tery, and suffering, and terror — how trebly full 
of import did it now appear — how chillily and 
heavily (disjointed, as it thus was, from any 
foregoing words to qualify or render it distinct) 
did its vague syllables fall, amid the deep gloom 
of my prison, into the innermost recesses of my 
soul ! 

Augustus had undoubtedly good reasons for 
wishing me to remain concealed, and I formed 
a thousand surmises as to what they could be, 
but I could think of nothing affording a satis- 
factory solution of the mystery. Just after re- 
turning from my last journey to the trap, and 
before my attention had been otherwise di- 
rected by the singular conduct of Tiger, I had 
borne id the resolution of making myself heard 
at all events by those on board, or, if I could 
not succeed in this directly, of trying to cut my 
way through the orlop deck. The half certainty 
which 1 felt of being able to accomplish one of 
these two purposes in the last emergency had 
given me courage (which I should not otherwise 
have had) to endure the evils of my situation. 
The few words I had been able to read, how- 
ever, had cut me off from these final resources, 
and I now, for the first time, felt all the misery 
of my fate. In a paroxysm of despair I threw 
myself again upon the mattress, where, for about 
the period of a day and night, I lay in a kind 
of stupor, relieved only by momentary inter- 
vals of reason and recollection. 

At length I once more arose, and busied my- 
self in reflection upon the horrors which en- 
compassed me. For another twenty-four hours 
it was barely possible that I might exist without 
water ; for a longer time 1 could not do so. 
During the first portion of my imprisonment I 
had made free use of the cordials with which 
Augustus had supplied me, but they only served 
to excite fever, without in the least degree as- 
suaging my thirst. I had now only about a 
gill left, and this was of a species of strong 
peach liquor at which my stomach revolted. 
The sausages were entirely consumed ; of the 
ham nothing remained but a small piece of 
skin; and all the biscuit, except a few frag- 
ments of one, had been eaten by Tiger. To 
add to my troubles, I found that my headache 
was increasing momentarily, and with it the 
species of delirium which had distressed me 
more or less since my first falling asleep. For 
some hours past it had been with the greatest 
difficulty 1 could breathe at all, and now each 
attempt at so doing was attended with the most 
distressing spasmodic action of the chest. But 
there was still another and very different source 
of disquietude, and one,indeed, whose harassing 
terrors had been the chief means of arousing 
me to exertion from my stupor on the mattress. 
It arose from the demeanour of the dog. 
I first observed an alteration in his conduct 



while rubbing in the phosphorus on the paper 
in my task attempt. As I rubbed, he ran his 
nose againsfcmy hand with a slight snarl ; but 1 
was too greatly excited at the time to pay much 
attention to the circumstance. Soon afterward, 
it will be remembered, I threw myself on the 
mattress, and fell into a species of lethargy. 
Presently I became aware of a singular hissing 
sound close at my ears, and discovered it to pro- 
ceed from Tiger, who was panting and wheezing- 
in a state of the greatest apparent excitement^ 
his eyeballs flashing fiercely through the gloom! 
I spoke*to him, when he replied with a low 
growl, and then remained quiet. Presently I re- 
lapsed into my stupor, from which I was again 
awakened in a similar manner. This was re- 
peated three or four times, until his behaviour 
inspired me with so great a degree of fear that 
I became fully aroused. He was now lying 
close by the door of the box, snarling fearfully, 
although in a kind of under tone, and grinding 
his teeth as if strongly convulsed. I had no 
doubt whatever that the want of water or the. 
confined atmosphere of the hold had driven, 
him mad, and I was at a loss what course to 
pursue. I could not endure the thought of 
killing him, yet it seemed absolutely necessary 
for my own safety. I could distinctly perceive 
his eyes fastened upon me with an expression 
of the most deadly animosity, and I expected 
every instant that he would attack me. At last 
I could endure my terrible situation no longer, 
and determined to make my way from the box 
at all hazards, and dispatch him, if his opposi- 
tion should render it necessary for me so to do. 
To get out, I had to pass directly over his 
body, and he already seemed to anticipate my 
design — raising himself upon his fore legs (as I 
perceived by the altered position of his eyes), 
and displaying the whole of his white fangs, 
which were easily discernible. I took the re- 
mains of the ham-skin, and the bottle contain- 
ing the liqueur, and secured them about my 
person, together with a large carving-knife 
which Augustus had left me— then, folding my 
cloak as closely around me as possible, I made 
a movement towards the mouth of the box. No 
sooner did I do this than the dog sprang with a. 
loud growl towards my throat. The whole 
weight of his body struck me on the right 
shoulder, and I fell violently to the left, while 
the enraged animal passed entirely over me. I 
had fallen upon my knees, with my head buried 
among the blankets, and these protected me 
from a second furious assault, during which I 
felt the sharp teeth pressing vigorously upon 
the woollen which enveloped my neck, yet, 
luckily, without being able to penetrate all the 
folds. I was now beneath the dog, and a few 
moments would place me completely in his 
power. Despair gave me strength, and I rose 
boldly up, shaking him from me by main force, 
and dragging with me the blankets from the 
mattress. These I now threw over him, and 
before he could extricate himself I had got 
through the door and closed it effectually against 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORCION PYM. 



17 



his pursuit. In this struggle, however, I had 
been forced to drop the morsel of ham-skin, 
and I now found my whole stock of provisions 
reduced to a single gill of liqueur. As this re- 
flection crossed my mind, I felt myself actuated 
by one of those fits of perverseness which 
might be supposed to influence a spoiled child 
in similar circumstances, and raising the bottle 
to my lips, 1 drained it to the last drop, and 
dashed it furiously upon the floor. 

Scarcely had the echo of the crash died away 
•when I heard my name pronounced in an eager 
but subdued voice, issuing from the direction of 
the steerage. So unexpected was any thing of 
the kind, and so intense was the emotion ex- 
cited within me by the sound, that I endea- 
voured in vain to reply. My powers of speech 
totally failed, and in an agony of terror lest my 
friend should conclude me dead, and return 
without attempting' to reach me, I stood up 
between the crates near the door of the 
box, trembling convulsively, and gasping and 
struggling for utterance. Had a thousand 
worlds depended upon a syllable, I could not 
have spoken it. There was a slight move- 
ment now audible among the lumber some- 
where forward of my station. The sound pre- 
sently grew less distinct, then again less so, 
and still less. Shall I ever forget my feelings 
at this moment ? He was going — my friend — 
my companion, from whom I had a right to 
expect so much— he was going— he would 
abandon me — he was gone ! He would leave 
me to perish miserably, to expire in the most 
horrible and loathsome of dungeons— and one 
word — one little syllable would save me — yet 
that single syllable I could not utter ! I felt, I 
am sure, more than ten thousand times the 
agonies of death itself. My brain reeled, and 
I fell, deadly sick, against the end of the box. 

As I fell, the carving-knife was shaken out 
from the waistband of my pantaloons, and 
dropped with a rattling sound to the floor. 
Never did any strain of the richest melody come 
so sweetly to my ears! With the intensest 
anxiety I listened to ascertain the effect of 
the noise upon Augustus— for I knew that the 
person who called my name could be no one but 
himself. All was silent for some moments. 
At length I again heard the word Arthur! re- 
peated in a low tone, and one full of hesita- 
tion. Reviving hope loosened at once my 
powers of speech, and I now screamed at the 
top of my voice, "Augustus! oh Augustus!" 
" Hush— for God's sake be silent !" he replied, 
in a voice trembling with agitation ; " I will be 
with you immediately— as soon as I can make 
my way through the hold." For a long time I 
heard him moving among the lumber, and 
every moment seemed to me an age. At length 
I felt his hand upon my shoulder, and he placed 
at the same moment a bottle of water to my 
iips. Those only who have been suddenly re- 
deemed from the jaws of the tomb, or who 
have known the insufferable torments of thirst 
under circumstances as aggravated as those 



which encompassed me in my dreary prison* 
can form any idea of the unutterable trails^ 
ports which that one long draught of the 
richest of all physical luxuries afforded. 

When I had in some degree satisfied my 
thirst, Augustus produced from his pocket three 
or four cold boiled potatoes, which I devoured 
with the greatest avidity. He had brought 
with him a light in a dark lantern, and the 
grateful rays afforded me scarcely less eom- 
fort than the food and drink. But I was impa- 
tient to learn the cause of his protracted 
absence, and he proceeded to recount what had' 
happened on board during my incarceration. 



CHAPTER IV. 



The brig put to sea, as I had supposed, in 
about an hour after he had left the watch. 
This was on the twentieth of June. It will be 
remembered that I had then been in the hold 
for three days ; and, during this period, there 
was so constant a bustle on board, and sc 
much running to and fro, especially in the 
cabin and state-rooms, that he had had no 
chance of visiting me without the risk of having 
the secret of the trap discovered. When at 
length he did come, I had assured him that 
I was doing as well as possible ; and therefore, 
for the next two days he felt but little uneasi- 
ness on my account, still, however, watching 
an opportunity of going down. It was not 
until the fourth day that he found one. 
Several times during this interval he had made 
up his mind to let his father know of the adven- 
ture, and have me come up at once; but we 
were still within reaching distance of Nan- 
tucket, and it was doubtful, from some expres- 
sions which had escaped Captain Barnard, 
whether he would not immediately put back if 
he discovered me to be on board. Besides, 
upon thinking the matter over, Augustus, so he 
told me, could not imagine that I was in imme- 
diate want, or that I would hesitate, in such 
case, to make myself heard at the trap. 
When, therefore, he considered every thing, he 
concluded to let me stay until he could meet 
with an opportunity of visiting me unobserved. 
This, as I said before, did not occur until the 
fourth day after his bringing me the watch, and 
the seventh since I had first entered the hold. 
He then went down without taking with him 
any water or provisions, intending in the first 
place merely to call my attention, and get me 
to come from the box to the trap, when he 
would go up to the state-room, and thence hand 
me down a supply. When he .descended for 
this purpose he found that I was asleep, for 
it seems that I was snoring very loudly. 
From all the calculations I can make on 
the subject, this must have been the slumber 
into which I fell just after my return from the* 



18 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



trap with the watch, and which, consequently, 
must have lasted for more than three entire 
■days and nights at the very least. Latterly, I 
have had reason, both from my own experience 
and the assurance of others, to be acquainted 
with the strong soporific effects of the stench 
arising from old fish-oil when closely confined ; 
and when I think of the condition of the hold 
in which I was imprisoned, and the long period 
during which the brig had been used as a 
whaling vessel, I am more inclined to wonder 
that I awoke at all, after once falling asleep, 
ihan that I should have slept uninterruptedly 
for the period specified above. 

Augustus called to me at first in a low voice 
and without closing the trap ; but I made him 
no reply. He then shut the trap, and spoke to 
me in a very loud tone ; still I continued to 
snore. He was now at a loss what to do. It 
-would take him some time to make his way 
through the lumber to my box, and in the 
meanwhile his absence would be noticed by 
Captain Barnard, who had occasion for his ser- 
vices every minute in arranging and copying 
papers connected with the business of the voy- 
age. He determined, therefore, upon reflec- 
tion, to ascend, and await another opportunity 
of visiting me. He was the more easily in- 
duced to this resolve, as my slumber appeared 
to be of the most tranquil nature, and he could 
not suppose that I had undergone any inconve- 
nience from my incarceration . He had just made 
lip his mind on these points when his attention 
was arrested by an unusual bustle, the sound of 
which proceeded apparently from the cabin. 
He sprang through the trap as quickly aspossi- 
ble, closed it, and threw open the door of his 
state-room. No sooner had he put his foot over 
-the threshold than a pistol flashed in his face, 
and he was knocked down, at the same mo- 
ment, by a blow from a handspike. 

A strong hand held him on the cabin floor, 
with a tight grasp upon his throat — still he 
was able to see what was going on around 
lim. His father was tied hand and foot, and 
lying along the steps of the companion-way 
with his head down, and a deep wound in the 
forehead, from which the blood was flowing in a 
continued stream. He spoke not a word, and 
was apparently dying. Over him stood the 
first mate, eying him with an expression of 
fiendish derision, and deliberately searching his 
pockets, from which he presently drew forth a 
large wallet and a chronometer. Seven of the 
crew (among whom was the cook, a negro,) 
were rummaging the state-rooms on the lar- 
board for arms, where they soon equipped 
themselves with muskets and ammunition. 
Besides Augustus and Captain Barnard, there 
were nine men altogether in the cabin, and 
these among the most ruffianly of the brig's 
company. The villains now went upon deck, 
taking my friend with them, after having se- 
cured his arms behind his back. They pro- 
ceeded straight to the forecastle, which was 
fastened down, two of the mutineers standing 



by it with axes— two also at the main hatch. 
The mate called out in a loud voice, " Do you 
hear there below? tumble up with you — one 
by one, now mark that — and no grumbling." 
It was some minutes before any one appeared ; 
at last an Englishman, who had shipped as a 
raw hand, came up weeping piteously, and en- 
treating the mate in the most humble manner 
to spare his life. The only reply was a blow- 
on the forehead from an axe. The poor 
fellow fell to the deck without ^ jgroan, and 
the black cook lifted him up in his\fcms as he 
would a child, and tossed him deliberately into 
the sea. Hearing the blow and the plunge of 
the body, the men below could now be induced 
to venture on deck neither by threats nor pro- 
mises, until a proposition was made to smoke 
them out. A general rush then ensued, and for 
a moment it seemed possible that the brig 
might be retaken. The mutineers, however, 
succeeded at last in closing the forecastle 
effectually before more than six of their oppo- 
nents could get up. These six, finding them- 
selves so greatly outnumbered and without 
arms, submitted after a brief struggle. The 
mate gave them fair words — no doubt with a 
view of inducing those below to yield, for they 
had no difficulty in hearing all that was said 
on deck. The result proved his sagacity, no 
less than his diabolical villany. All in the 
forecastle presently signified their intention of 
submitting, and ascending one by one, were 
pinioned and thrown on their backs, together 
with the first six— there being in all, of the 
crew who were not concerned in the mutiny, 
twenty-seven. 

A scene of the most horrible butchery ensued. 
The bound seamen were dragged to the gang- 
way. Here the cook stood with an axe, striking 
each victim on the head as he was forced over 
the side of the vessel by the other mutineers. In 
this manner twenty-two perished, and Augustus 
had given himself up for lost, expecting every 
moment his own turn to come next. But it 
seemed that the villains were now either weary, 
or in some measure disgusted with their bloody 
labour; for the four remaining prisoners, 
together with my friend, who had been thrown 
on the deck with the rest, were respited while 
the mate sent below for rum, and the whole 
murderous party held a drunken carouse, which 
lasted until sunset. They now fell to disputing 
in regard to the fate of the survivors, who lay 
not more than four paces off, and could dis- 
tinguish every word said. Upon some of the 
mutineers the liquor appeared to have a soften- 
ing effect, for several voices were heard in 
favour of releasing the captives altogether, on 
condition of joining the mutiny and sharing 
the profits. The black cook, however (who in 
all respects was a perfect demon, and who 
seemed to exert as much influence, if not more, 
than the mate himself), would listen to no pro- 
position of the kind, and rose repeatedly for 
the purpose of resuming his work at the gang- 
way^ Fortunately, he was so far overcome 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON" PYM. 



19 



by intoxication as to be easily restrained by 
the less blood-thirsty of the party, among whom 
"was a line-manager, who went by the name of 
Dirk Peters. This man was the son of an 
Indian squaw of the tribe of Upsarokas, who 
live among the fastnesses of the Black Hills 
near the source of the Missouri. His father 
was a fur-trader, or at least connected in some 
mannerwith the Indian trading-posts on Lewis 
liver. Peters himself was one of the most 
purely ferocious-looking men I ever beheld. 
He was short in stature—not more than four 
feet eight inches high — but his limbs were of 
the most Herculean mould. His hands, espe- 
cially, were so enormously thick and broad as 
hardly to retain a human shape. His arms, as 
well as legs, were bowed in the mo3t singular 
manner, and appeared to possess no flexibility 
whatever. His head was equally deformed, 
being of immense size, with an indentation on 
the crown (like that on the head of most ne- 
groes), and entirely bald. To conceal this 
latter deficiency, which did not proceed from 
old age, he usually wore a wig formed of any 
hair- like material which presented itself — occa- 
sionally the skin of a Spanish dog or American 
grizzly bear. At the time spoken of he had on 
a portion of one of these bear-skins, and it added 
no little to the natural ferocity of his counte- 
nance, which betook of the Upsaroka charac- 
ter. The mouth extended nearly from ear to 
ear ; the lips were thin, and seemed, like some 
other portions of his frame, to be devoid of 
natural pliancy, so that the ruling expression 
never varied under the influence of any emo- 
tion whatever. This ruling expression may be 
conceived when it is considered that the teeth 
were exceedingly long and protruding, and 
never even partially covered, in any instance, 
by the lips. To pass this man with a casual 
glance, one might imagine him to be convulsed 
with laughter— but a second look would induce 
a shuddering acknowledgment, that if such an 
expression were indicative of merriment, the 
merriment must be that of a demon. Of this 
singular being many anecdotes were prevalent 
among the seafaring men of Nantucket. These 
anecdotes went to prove his prodigious strength 
when under excitement, and some of them had 
given rise to a doubt of his sanity. But on 
board the Grampus, it seems, he was regarded 
at the time of the mutiny with feelings more 
of derision than of any thing else. I have been 
thus particular in speaking of Dirk Peters, 
because, ferocious as he appeared, he proved 
the main instrument in preserving the life of 
Augustus, and because I shall have frequent 
occasion to mention him hereafter in the course 
of my narrative — a narrative, let me here say, 
which, in its latter portions, will be found to 
include incidents of a nature so entirely out 
of the range of human experience, and for this 
reason so far beyond the limits of human 
credulity, that I proceed in utter hopelessness 
of obtaining credence for all that I shall tell, 
yet confidently trusting in time and progressing 



science to verify some of the most important 
and most improbable of my statements. 

After much indecision and two or three 
violent quarrels, it was determined at last that 
all the prisoners (with the exception of Augus- 
tus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner 
upon keeping as his clerk) should be set adrift 
in one of the smallest whaleboats. The mate 
went down into the cabin to see if Captain 
Barnard was still living— for, it will be remem- 
bered, he was left below when the mutineers 
came up. Presently the two made their ap- 
pearance, the captain pale as death, but some- 
what recovered from the effects of his wound. 
He spoke to the men in a voice hardly articu- 
late, entreated them not to send him adrift, but 
to return to their duty, and promising to land 
them wherever they chose, and to take no steps 
for bringing them to justice. He might as well 
have spoken to the winds. Two of the ruffians 
seized him by the arms and hurled him over 
the brig's side into the boat, which had been 
lowered while the mate went below. The four 
men who were lying on the deck were then 
untied and ordered to follow, which they did 
without attempting any resistance — Augustus 
being still left in his painful position, although 
he struggled, and prayed only for the poor satis- 
faction of being permitted to bid his father fare- 
well. A handful of sea-biscuit and a jug of 
water were now handed down; but neither 
mast, sail, oar, nor compass. The boat was 
towed astern for a few minutes, during which 
the mutineers held another consultation— it 
was then finally cut adrift. By this time night 
had come on — there were neither moon nor 
stars visible— and a short and ugly sea was 
running, although there was no great deal of 
wind. The boat was instantly out of sight, 
and little hope could be entertained for the un- 
fortunate sufferers who were in it. This event 
happened, however, in latitude 35 deg. 30 niin.. 
north, longitude 61 deg. 20 min. west, and con- 
sequently at no very great distancefrom the Ber- 
muda Islands. Augustus therefore endeavoured 
to console himself with the idea that the boat 
might either succeed in reaching the land, or 
come sufficiently near to be fallen in with by 
vessels off the coast. 

All sail was now put upon the brig, and she- 
continued her original course to the south-west 
— the mutineers being bent upon some piratical 
expedition, in which, from all that could be 
understood, a ship was to be intercepted on 
her way from the Cape Verd Islands to Porto 
Rico. No attention was paid to Augustus, who 
was untied, and suffered to go about any where 
forward of the cabin companion-way, Dirk 
Peters treated him with some degree of kind- 
ness, and on one occasion saved him from the 
brutality of the cook. His situation was still 
one of the most precarious, as the men were 
continually intoxicated, and there was no rely- 
ing upon their continued good-humour or care- 
lessness in regard to himself. His anxiety on. 
my account he represented, however, as the 



no 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER 



most distressing result of his condition ; and, 
indeed, I had never reason to doubt the sin- 
cerity of his friendship. More than once he 
had resolved to acquaint the mutineers with 
the secret of my being on board, but was re- 
strained from so doing partly through recollec- 
tion of the atrocities he had already beheld, 
and partly through a hope of being able soon 
to bring me relief. For the latter purpose 
he was constantly on the watch; but, in 
spite of the most constant vigilance, three 
days elapsed after the boat was cut adrift 
before any chance occurred. At length, on the 
night of the third day, there came on a heavy 
blow from the eastward, and all hands were 
called up to take in sail. During the confusion 
which ensued, he made his way below unob- 
served, and into the state-room. What was his 
grief and horror in discovering that the latter 
had been rendered a place of deposit for a 
variety of sea-stores and ship-furniture, and 
that several fathoms of old chain- cable, which 
had been stowed away beneath the companion- 
ladder, had been dragged thence to make room 
for a chest, and were nowlying immediately upon 
the trap ! To remove it without discovery was 
impossible, and he returned on deck as quickly 
as he could. As he came up the mate seized 
him by the throat, and demanding what he had 
been doing in the cabin, was about flinging him 
over the larboard bulwark, when his life was 
again preserved through the interference of 
Dirk Peters. Augustus was now put in hand- 
cuffs (of which there were several pairs on 
board), and his feet lashed tightly together. 
He was then taken into the steerage, and thrown 
into a lower berth next to the forecastle bulk- 
heads, with the assurance that he should never 
put his foot on deck again " until the brig was 
no longer a brig." This was the expression of 
the cook, who threw him into the berth— it is 
hardly possible to say what precise meaning 
was intended by the phrase. The whole affair, 
however, proved the ultimate means of my 
relief, as will presently appear. 



CHAPTER V. 

For some minutes after the cook had left the 
forecastle, Augustus abandoned himself to de- 
spair, never hoping to leave the berth alive. He 
now came to the resolution of acquainting the 
first of the men who should come down with 
my situation, thinking it better to let me take 
my chance with the mutineers than perish of 
thirst in the hold— for it had been ten days 
since I was first imprisoned, and my jug of 
water was not a plentiful supply even for four. 
As he was thinking on this subject, the idea 
.came all at once into his head that it might be 
possible to communicate with me by the way of 



the main hold. In any other circumstances 
the difficulty and hazard of the undertaking 
would have prevented him from attempting it; 
but now he had, at all events, little prospects 
of life, and consequently little to lose, he bent 
his whole mind, therefore, upon the task. 

His handcuffs were the first consideration. 
At first he saw no method of removing them, 
and feared that he should thus be baffled in the 
very outset; but, upon a closer scrutiny, he 
discovered that the irons could be slipped off 
and on at pleasure with very little effort or in- 
convenience, merely by squeezing his hands 
through them — this species of manacle being 
altogether ineffectual in confining young per- 
sons, in whom the smaller bones readily yield 
to pressure. He now untied his feet, and, 
leaving the cord in such a manner that it could 
easily be re-adjusted in the event of any per- 
son's coming down, proceeded to examine the 
bulkhead where it joined the berth. The par- 
tition here was of soft pine board, an inch thick, 
and he saw that he should have little trouble in 
cutting his way through. A voice was now 
heard at the forecastle companion-way, and he 
had just time to put his right hand into his 
handcuff (the left had not been removed), and 
to draw the rope in a slipknot around his ancle, 
when Dirk Peters came below, followed by 
Tiger, who immediately leaped into the berth 
and lay down. The dog had been brought on 
board by Augustus, who knew my attachment to 
the' animal, and that it would give me pleasure 
to have him with me during the voyage. He went 
up to our house for him immediately after his 
first taking me into the hold, but did not think 
of mentioning the circumstance upon his bring- 
ing the watch. Since the mutiny, Augustus 
had not seen him before his appearance with 
Dirk Peters, and had given him up for lost, 
supposing him to have been thrown overboard 
by some of the malignant villains belonging to 
the mate's gang. It appeared afterward that 
he had crawled into a hole beneath a whaleboat, 
from which, not having room to turn round, he 
couldjiot extricate himself. Peters at last let 
him out, and with a species of good feeling 
which my friend knew how to appreciate, had 
now brought him to him in the forecastle as a 
companion, leaving at the same time some salt 
junk and potatoes, with a can of water ; he then 
went on deck, promising to come down with 
something more to eat on the next day. 

When he had gone, Augustus freed both 
hands from the manacles and unfastened his feet. 
He then turned down the head of the mattress 
on which he had been lying, and with his pen- 
knife (for the ruffians had not thought it worth 
while to search him) commenced cutting vigor- 
ously across one of the partition planks, as 
closely as possible to the floor of the berth. He 
choose to cut here, because, if suddenly inter- 
rupted, he wotild be able to conceal what had 
been done by letting the head of the mattress 
fall into its proper position. For the remainder 
of the day, however, no disturbance occurred, 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



21 



and by night he had completely divided the 
plank. It should here be observed, that none 
of the crew occupied the forecastle as a sleeping- 
place, living altogether in the cabin since the 
mutiny, drinking the wines, and feasting on the 
sea-stores of Captain Barnard, and giving no 
more heed than was absolutely necessary to the 
navigation of the brig. These circumstances 
proved fortunate both for myself and Augustus ; 
for, had matters been otherwise, he would have 
found it impossible to reach me. As it was, he 
proceeded with confidence in his design. It 
was near daybreak, however, before he com- 
pleted the second division of the board (which 
was about a foot above the first cut), thus 
making an aperture quite large enough to admit 
his passage through with facility to the main or- 
lop deck. Having got here, he made his way 
with but little trouble to the lower main hatch, 
although in so doing he had to scramble over 
tiers of oil-casks piled nearly as high as the 
upper deck, there being barely room enough left 
for his body. Upon reaching the hatch, he 
found that Tiger had followed him below, 
squeezing between two rows of the casks, it 
was now too late, however, to attempt getting 
to me before dawn, as the chief difficulty lay 
in passing through the close stowage in the 
lower hold. He therefore resolved to return, 
and wait till the next night. With this design 
he proceeded to loosen the hatch, so that he 
might have as little detention as possible when 
he should come again. No sooner had he 
loosened it than Tiger sprang eagerly to the 
small opening produced, snuffed for a moment, 
and then uttered a long whine, scratching at 
the same time, as if anxious to remove the 
covering with his paws. There could be no 
doubt, from his behaviour, that he was aware 
of my being in the hold, and Augustus thought 
it possible that he would be able to get to me if 
he put him down. He now hit upon the expe- 
dient of sending the note, as it was especially 
desirable that I should make no attempt at forc- 
ing my way out, at least under existing cir- 
cumstances, and there could be no certainty of 
his getting to me himself on the morrow as he 
intended. After-events proved how fortunate 
it was that the idea occurred to him as it did ; 
for, had it not been for the receipt of the note, 
I should undoubtedly have fallen upon some 
plan, however desperate, of alarming the crew, 
and both our lives would most probably have 
been sacrificed in consequence. 

Having concluded to write, the difficulty was 
now to procure the materials for so doing. An 
old toothpick was soon made into a pen; and 
this by means of feeling altogether, for the be- 
tween-decks were as dark as pitch. Paper 
enough was obtained from the back of a letter 
— a duplicate of the forged letter from Mr. 
Ross. This had been the original draught; 
but the handwriting not being sufficiently well 
imitated, Augustus had written another, thrust- 
ing the first, by good fortune, into his coat- 
pocket, where it was now most opportunely dis- 



covered. Ink alone was thus wanting, and a 
substitute was immediately found for this by 
means of a slight incision with the penknife 
on the back of a finger just above the nail— a 
copious flow of blood ensuing, as usual from 
wounds in that vicinity. The note was now 
written, as well as it could be in the dark and 
under the circumstances. It briefly explained 
that a mutiny had taken place ; that Captain 
Barnard was set adrift ; and that I might ex- 
pect immediate relief as far as provisions were 
concerned, but must not venture upon any dis- 
turbance. It concluded with these words, " / 
have scrawled this ivith blood — your life depends 
upon lying close." 

The slip of paper being tied upon the dog, 
he was now put down the hatchway, and Au- 
gustus made the best of his way back to the 
forecastle, where he found no reason to believe 
that any of the crew had been in his absence. 
To conceal the hole in the partition, he drove his 
knife in just above it, and hung up a pea-jacket 
which he found in the berth. His handcuffs 
were then replaced, and also the rope around 
his ancles. 

These arrangements were scarcely completed 
when Dirk Peters came below, very drunk, but 
in excellent humour, and bringing with him my 
friend's allowance of provisions for the day. 
This consisted of a dozen large Irish potatoes 
roasted, and a pitcher of water. He sat for some 
time on a chest by the berth, and talked freely 
about the mate, and the general concerns of 
the brig. His demeanour was exceedingly capri- 
cious, and even grotesque. At one time Au- 
gustus was much alarmed by his odd conduct. 
At last, however, he went on deck, muttering 
a promise to bring his prisoner a good dinner 
on the morrow. 

During the day two of the crew (harpooners) 
came down, accompanied by the cook, all three 
in nearly the last stage of intoxication. Like 
Peters, they made no scruple of talking unre- 
servedly about their plans. It appeared that 
they were much divided among themselves as 
to their ultimate course, agreeing in no point 
except the attack on the ship from the Cape 
Verd Islands, with which they were in hourly 
expectation of meeting. As far as could be 
ascertained, the mutiny had not been, brought 
about altogether for the sake of booty, a private 
pique of the chief mate's against Captain Bar- 
nard having been the main instigation. There 
now seemed to be two principal factions among 
the crew — one headed by the mate, the other 
by the cook. The former party were for 
seizing the first suitable vessel which should 
present itself, and equipping it at some of the 
West India islands for a piratical cruise. The 
latter division, however, which was the stronger, 
and included Dirk Peters among its partisans, 
were bent upon pursuing the course originally 
laid out for the brig into the South Pacific, 
there either to take whale, or act otherwise, as 
circumstances should suggest. The represen- 
tations of Peters, who had frequently visited 



22 

these regions, had great weight apparently with 
the mutineers, wavering as they were between 
half-engendered notions of profit and pleasure. 
He dwelt on the world of novelty and amuse- 
ment to be found among the innumerable 
islands of the Pacific, on the perfect security 
and freedom from all restraint to be enjoyed, 
but more particularly on the deliciousness of 
the climate, on the abundant means of good 
living, and on the voluptuous beauty of the 
women. As yet, nothing had been absolutely 
determined ; but the pictures of the hybrid 
line-manager were taking strong hold upon the 
ardent imaginations of the seamen, and there 
was every probability that his intentions would 
be finally carried into effect. 

The three men went away in about an hour, 
and no one else entered the forecastle all day. 
Augustus lay quiet until nearly night ; he then 
freed himself from the rope and irons, and pre- 
pared for his attempt. A bottle was found in 
one of the berths, and this he filled with water 
from the pitcher left by Peters, storing his 
pockets at the same time with cold potatoes. 
To his great joy he also came across a lantern, 
with a small piece of tallow candle in it. This 
he could light at any moment, as he had in his 
possession a box of phosphorus matches. When 
it was quite dark, he got through the hole in 
the bulkhead, having taken the precaution to 
arrange the bedclothes in the berth so as to con- 
vey the idea of a person covered up. When 
through, he hung up the pea-jacket on his 
knife, as before, to conceal the aperture — this 
manoeuvre being easily effected, as he did not 
re-adjust the piece of plank taken out until 
afterwards. He was now on the main orlop 
deck, and proceeded to make his way, as be- 
fore, between the upper deck and the oil casks 
to the main hatchway. Having reached this, he 
lit the piece of candle, and descended, groping 
with extreme difficulty among the compact 
stowage of the hold. In a few moments he 
became alarmed at the insufferable stench and 
the closeness of the atmosphere. He could 
not think it possible that J had survived my 
confinement for so long a period, breathing so 
oppressive an air. He called my name repeat- 
edly, but I made him no reply, and his appre- 
hensions seemed thus to be confirmed. The 
brig was rolling violently, and there was so 
much noise in consequence, that it was useless 
to listen for any weak sound, such as those of 
my breathing or snoring. He threw open the 
lantern, and held it as high as possible whenever 
an opportunity occurred, in order that, by ob- 
serving the light, I might, if alive, be aware 
that succour was approaching. Still nothing 
was heard from me, and the supposition of my 
death began to assume the character of cer- 
tainty. He determined, nevertheless, to force 
a passage, if possible, to the box, and at least 
ascertain beyond a doubt the truth of his 
surmises. He pushed on for some time in a 
most pitiable state of anxiety, until at length 
he found the pathway utterly blocked up, and 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



there was no possibility of making any farther 
way by the course in which he had set out. 
Overcome now by his feelings, he threw himself 
among the lumber in despair, and wept like a 
child. It was at this period that he heard the 
crash occasioned by the bottle which I had 
thrown down. Fortunate, indeed, was it that 
the incident occurred ; for upon this incident, 
trivial as it appears, the thread of my destiny 
depended. Many years elapsed, however, be- 
fore I was aware of this fact. A natural 
shame and regret for his weakness and inde- 
cision prevented Augustus from confiding to 
me at once what a more intimate and unre- 
served communion afterward induced him to 
reveal. Upon finding his further progress in 
the hold impeded by obstacles which he could 
not overcome, he had resolved to abandon his 
attempt at reaching me, and return at once to 
the forecastle. Before condemning him en- 
tirely on this head, the harassing circumstances 
which embarrassed him should be taken into 
consideration. The night was fast wearing 
away, and his absence from the forecastle 
might be discovered ; and indeed wculd neces- 
sarily be so, if he should fail to get back to 
the berth by daybreak. His candle was ex- 
piring in the socket, and there would be the 
greatest difficulty in retracing his way to the 
hatchway in the dark. Jt must be allowed, 
too, that he had every good reason to believe 
me dead, in which no benefit could result to 
me from his reaching the box, and a world of 
danger would be encountered to no purpose by 
himself. He had repeatedly called, and I had 
made him no answer. I had been now eleven 
days and nights with no more water than that 
contained in the jug which he had left with 
me, a supply which it was not at all probable 
I had hoarded in the beginning of my confine- 
ment, as I had every cause to expect a speedy 
release. The atmosphere of the hold, too, 
must have appeared to him, coming from the 
comparatively open air of the steerage, of a 
nature absolutely poisonous, and by far more 
intolerable than it had seemed to me upon my 
first taking up my quarters in the box, the 
hatchways at that time having been constantly 
open for many months previous. Add to these 
considerations that of the scene of bloodshed 
and terror so lately witnessed by my friend — 
his confinement, privations, and narrow escapes 
from death, together with the frail and equi- 
vocal tenure by which he still existed : circum- 
stances all so well calculated to prostrate every 
energy of mind — and the reader will be easily 
brought, as I have been, to regard his apparent 
falling off in friendship and faith with senti- 
ments rather of sorrow than of anger. 

The crash of the bottle was distinctly heard, 
yet Augustus was not sure that it proceeded 
from the hold. The doubt, however, was suffi- 
cient inducement to persevere. He clambered 
up nearly to the orlop deck by means of the 
stowage, and then watching for a lull in the 
pitchings of the vessel, he called out to me in 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



23 



as loud a tone as he could command, regard- 
less,, for the moment, of the danger of being 
overheard by the crew. It will be remembered 
that on this occasion the voice reached me, but 
I was so entirely overcome by violent agitation 
as to bfc^incapable of reply. Confident, now, 
that hiswtfrst apprehensions were well founded, 
he descended, with a view of getting back to 
the forecastle without loss of time. In his 
haste some small bozes were thrown down, the 
noise occasioned by which I heard, as will be 
recollected. He had made considerable pro- 
gress on his return, when the fall of the knife 
again caused him to hesitate. He retraced his 
steps immediately, and clambering up the 
stowage a second time, called out my name 
loudly as before, having watched for a lull. 
This time I found voice to answer. Overjoyed 
at discovering me to be still alive, he now re- 
solved to brave every difficulty and danger in 
reaching me. Having extricated himself as 
-quickly as possible from the labyrinth of 
lumber by which he was hemmed in, he at 
length struck into an opening which promised 
better, and finally, after a series of struggles, 
arrived at the box in a state of utter ex- 
haustion. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The leading particulars of this narration 
were all that Augustus communicated to me 
while we remained near the box. It was not 
until afterwards that he entered fully into all 
the details. He was apprehensive of being 
missed, and I was wild with impatience to leave 
my detested place of confinement. We re- 
solved to make our way at once to the hole in 
the bulkhead, near which I was to remain for 
the present, while he went through to recon- 
noitre. To leave Tiger in the box was what 
neither of us could endure to think of, yet how 
to act otherwise was the question. He now 
seemed to be perfectly quiet, and we could not 
even distinguish the sound of bis breathing 
upon applying our ears closely to the box. I 
was convinced that he was dead, and deter- 
mined to open the door. We found him lying 
at full length, apparently in a deep stupor, yet 
still alive. No time was to be lost, yet I could 
not bring myself to abandon an animal who 
had. now been twice instrumental in saving my 
life without some attempt at preserving him. 
We therefore dragged him along with us as 
well as we could, although with the greatest 
-difficulty and fatigue ; Augustus, during part of 
the time, being forced to clamber over the im- 
pediments in our way with the huge dog in his 
arms — a feat to which the feebleness of my 
frame rendered me totally inadequate. At 
length we succeeded in reaching the hole, when 
Augustus got through, and Tiger was pushed in 



afterwards. All was found to be safe, and we 
did not fail to return sincere thanks to God for 
our deliverance from the imminent danger we 
had escaped. For the present, it was agreed 
that I should remain near the opening, through 
which my companion could readily supply me 
with apart of his daily provision, and where I 
could have the advantages of breathing an 
atmosphere comparatively pure. 

In explanation of some portions of this nar- 
rative, wherein I have spoken of the stowage 
of the brig:, and which may appear ambiguous 
to some of my readers who may have seen a 
proper or regular stowage, I must here state 
that the manner in which this most important 
duty had been performed on board the Grampus 
was a most shameful piece of neglect on the 
part of .Captain Barnard, who was by no means 
as careful or experienced a seaman as the ha- 
zardous nature of the service on which he was 
employed would seem necessarily to demand. 
A proper stowage cannot be accomplished in a 
careless manner, and many disastrous acci- 
dents, even within the limits of my own expe- 
rience, have arisen from neglect or ignorance 
in this particular. Coasting vessels, in the 
frequent hurry and bustle attendant upon 
taking in or discharging cargo, are the most 
liible to mishap from the want of a proper 
attention to stowage. The great point is to 
allow no possibility of the cargo or ballast's 
shifting position, even in the most violent roll- 
ings of the vessel. With this end, great atten- 
tion must be paid, not only to the bulk taken 
in, but to the nature of it, and whether there be 
a full or only a partial cargo. In most kinds 
of freight the stowage is accomplished by 
means of a screw. Thus, in a load of tobacco 
or flour, the whole is screwed so tightly into 
the hold of the vessel that the barrels or hogs- 
heads upon discharging are found to be com- 
pletely flattened, and take some time to regain 
their original shape. This screwing, however, 
is resorted to principally with a view of ob- 
taining more room in the hold ; for in a full 
load of any such commodities as flour or to- 
bacco, there can be no danger of any shifting 
whatever — at least, none from which inconve- 
nience can result. There have been instances, 
indeed, where this method of screwing has re- 
sulted in the most lamentable consequences, 
arising from a cause altogether distinct from 
the danger attendant upon a shifting of cargo. 
A load of cotton, for example, tightly screwed 
while in certain conditions, has been known, 
through the expansion of its bulk, to rend a 
vessel asunder at sea. There can be no doubt, 
either, that the same result would ensue in the 
case of tobacco, while undergoing its usual 
course of fermentation, were it not for the in- 
terstices consequent upon the rotundity of the 
hogsheads. 

It is when a partial cargo is received that 
danger is chiefly to be apprehended from shift- 
ing, and precautions should be always taken 
to guard against such misfortune. Only those 



24 ?H£ NOVEL 

who have encountered a violent gale of wind, 
or rather who have experienced the rolling of 
a vessel in a sudden calm after the gale, can 
form an idea of the tremendous force of the 
plunges, and of the consequent terrible impetus 
given to all loose articles in the vessel. It is 
then that the great necessity of a cautious 
stowage, when there is a partial cargo, becomes 
obvious. When lying-to (especially with a 
small head-sail) a vessel which is not properly 
modelled in the bows is frequently thrown upon 
her beam ends; this occurring even every fif- 
teen or twenty minutes, upon an average, yet 
without any serious consequences resulting, 
provided there be a proper stowage. If this, 
however, has not been strictly attended to, in 
the first of these heavy lurches the whole of the 
cargo tumbles over to the side of the vessel 
which lies upon the water, and being thus pre- 
vented from gaining her equilibrium, as she 
would otherwise necessarily do, she is certain 
to fill in a few seconds, and go down. It is 
not too much to say that at least one-half of the 
instances in which vessels have foundered in 
heavy gales at sea may be attributed to a shift- 
ing of cargo or of ballast. 

When a partial cargo of any kind is taken 
on board, the whole, after being first stowed as 
compactly as may be, should be covered with 
a layer of stout shifting-boards, extended com- 
pletely across the vessel. Upon these boards 
strong temporary stanchions should be erected, 
reaching to the timbers above, and thus secur- 
ing every thing in its place. In cargoes con- 
sisting of grain, or any similar matter, addi- 
tional precautions are requisite. A hold filled 
entirely with grain upon leaving port will be 
found not more than three-fourths full upon 
reaching its destination ; this, too, although the 
freight, when measured bushel by bushel by 
the consignee, will overrun by a vast deal (on 
account of the swelling of the grain) the quan- 
tity consigned. This result is occasioned by 
settling during the voyage, and is more per- 
ceptible in proportion to the roughness of the 
weather experienced. If grain loosely thrown 
into a vessel, then, is ever so well secured by 
shifting-boards and stanchions, it will be liable 
to shift in a long passage so greatly as to bring 
about the most distressing calamities. To pre- 
vent these every method should be employed 
before leaving port to settle the cargo as much 
as possible ; and for this there are many con- 
trivances, among which may be mentioned the 
driving of wedges into the grain. Even after all 
this is done, and unusual pains taken to secure 
the shifting- boards, no seaman who knows what 
he is about will feel altogether secure in a gale 
of any violence with a cargo of grain on board, 
and, least of all, with a partial cargo. Yet 
there are hundreds of our coasting vessels, and, 
it is likely, many more from the ports of Eu- 
rope, which sail daily with partial cargoes, even 
of the most dangerous species, and without any 
precautions whatever. The wonder is that no 
more accidents occur than do actually happen. 



KEWSPAPER. 

A lamentable instance of this heedlessness oc- 
curred to my knowledge in the case of Capt. Joel 
Rice, of the schooner Firefly, which sailed from 
Richmond, Virginia, to Madeira, with a cargo 
of corn, in the year 1825. The captain had 
gone many voyages without serious accident, 
although he was in the habit of paying no at- 
tention whatever to his stowage, more than to 
secure it in the ordinary manner. He had 
never before sailed with a cargo of grain, and 
on this occasion had the corn thrown on board 
loosely, when it did not much more than half 
fill the vessel. For the first portion of the 
voyage he met with nothing more than light 
breezes, but when within a day's sail of Ma- 
deira, there came on a strong gale from the N. 
N. E. which forced him to lie to. He brought 
the schooner to the wind under a double-reeled 
foresail alone, when she rode as well as any 
vessel could be expected to do, and shipped not 
a drop of water. Towards night the gale some- 
what abated, and she rolled with more unstea- 
diness than before, but still did very well, until 
a heavy lurch threw her upon her beam-ends to ' 
starboard. The corn was then heard to shift 
bodily, the force of the movement bursting open 
the main hatchway. The vessel went down like 
a shot. This happened within hail of a small 
sloop from Madeira, which picked up one of 
the crew (the only person saved), and which 
rode out the gale in perfect security, as indeed 
a jollyboat might have done under proper ma- 
nagement. 

The stowage on board the Grampus was most 
clumsily done, if stowage that could be called 
which was little better than a promiscuous hud- 
dling together of oil-casks* and ship-furniture. 
I have already spoken of the condition of ar- 
ticles in the hold. On the orlop deck there was 
space enough for my body (as I have stated) 
between the oil-casks and the upper deck ; a 
space was left open around the main hatchway ; 
and several other large spaces were left in the 
stowage. Near the hole cut through the bulk- 
head by Augustus there was room enough for 
an entire cask, and in this space I found myself 
comfortably situated for the present. 

By the time my friend had got safely into the 
berth, and re-adjusted his handcuffs and the 
rope, it was broad daylight. We had made a 
narrow escape indeed, for scarcely had he ar- 
ranged all matters, when the mate came below, 
with Dirk Peters and the cook. They talked 
for some time about the vessel from the Cape 
Veils, and seemed to be excessively anxious 
for her appearance. At length the cook came 
to the berth where Augustus was lying, and 
seatedhimselfinitnearthehead. I couldseeand 
hear every thing from my hiding-place, for the 
piece cut out had not been put back, and 1 was 
in momentary expectation that the negro would 
fall against the pea-jacket, which was hung up 

* Whaling vessels are usually fitted With iron oil- 
tanks. Why the Grampus was not I have never 
I been able to ascertain. 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



25 



to conceal the aperture, in which case all would i 
have been discovered, and our lives would, no 
doubt, have been instantly sacrificed. Our good 
fortune prevailed, however; and although he 
frequently touched it as the vessel rolled, he 
never pressed against it sufficiently to bring 
about a discovery. The bottom of the jacket 
had been carefully fastened in the bulk-head, 
so that the whole might not be seen by its swing- 
ing to one side. All this time Tiger was lying 
at the foot of the berth, and appeared to have 
recovered in some measure his faculties, for I 
could see him occasionally open his eyes and 
draw a long breath. 

After a few minutes the mate and cook went 
above, leaving Dirk Peters behind, who, as soon 
as they were gone, came and sat himself down 
in the place just occupied by the mate. He 
began to talk very sociably with Augustus, and 
we could now see that the greater part of his 
apparent intoxication, while the two others 
were with him, was a feint. He answered all 
my companion's questions with perfect free- 
dom ; told him that he had no doubt of his 
father's having been picked up, as there were no 
less than five sail in sight just before sundown 
on the day he was cut adrift; and used other 
language of a consolatory nature, which occa- 
sioned me no less surprise than pleasure. In- 
deed, I began to entertain hopes, that through 
the instrumentality of Peters we might be finally 
enabled to regain possession of the brig, and 
this idea I mentioned to Augustus as soon as I 
found an opportunity. He thought the matter 
possible, but urged the necessity of the greatest 
caution in making the attempt, as the con- 
duct of the hybrid appeared to be instigated 
by the most arbitrary caprice alone ; and, 
indeed, it was difficult to say if he was at 
any moment of sound mind. Peters went upon 
deck in about an hour, and did not return again 
until noon, when he brought Augustus a plen- 
tiful supply of junk-beef and pudding. Of this, 
when we were left alone, I partook heartily, 
without returning through the hole. No one 
else came down into the forecastle during the 
day, and at night I got into Augustus's berth, 
where I slept soundly and sweetly until nearly 
daybreak, when he awakened me upon hearing 
a stir upon deck, and I regained my hiding- 
place as quickly as possible. When the day 
was fully broke, we found that Tiger had re- 
covered his strength almost entirely, and gave 
no indications of hydrophobia, drinking a little 
water that was offered him with great apparent 
eagerness. During the day he regained all his 
former vigour and appetite. His strange con- 
duct had been brought on, no doubt, by the 
deleterious quality of the air of the hold, and 
had no connexion with canine madness. I 
could not sufficiently rejoice that 1 had persisted 
in bringing him with me from the box. This 
day was the thirtieth of June, and the thirteenth 
since the Grampus made sail from Nantucket. 
On the second of July the mate came below, 
drunk as usual, and in an excessively good 



humour. He came to Augustus's berth, and, 
giving him a slap on the back, asked him if he 
thought he could behave himself if he let him 
loose, and whether he would promise not to be 
going into the cabin again. To this, of course, 
my friend answered in the affirmative, when 
the ruffian set him at liberty, after making him 
drink from a flask of rum which he drew from 
his coat-pocket. Both now went on deck, and 
I did not see Augustus for about three hours- 
He then came below with the good news that 
he had obtained permission to go about the brig 
as he pleased any where forward of the main- 
mast, and that he had been ordered to sleep, as 
usual, in the forecastle. He brought me, too, 
a good dinner, and a plentiful supply of water. 
The brig was still cruising for the vessel from 
the Cape Verds, and a sad was now in sight 
which was thought to be the one in question. 
As the events of the ensuing e'tght days were of 
little importance, and had no direct bearing 
upon the main incidents of my narrative, I will 
here throw them into the form of a journal, as 
I do not wish to omit them altogether. 

July 3. — Augustus furnished me with three 
blankets, with which I contrived a comfortable 
bed in my hiding-place. No one came below, 
except my companion, during the day. Tiger 
took his station in the berth just by the aperture, 
and slept heavily, as if notyet entirely recovered 
from the effects of his sickness. Towards night 
a flaw of wind struck the brig before sail could 
be taken in, and very nearly capsized her. The 
puff died away immediately, however, and no 
damage was done beyond the splitting of the 
foretopsail. Dirk Peters treated Augustus all 
this day with great kindness, and entered into a 
long conversation with him respecting the Pa- 
cific Ocean and the islands he had visited in 
that region. He asked him whether he would 
not like to go with the mutineers on a kind of 
exploring and pleasure voyage in those quarters, 
and said that the men were gradually coming 
over to the mate's views. To this Augustus 
thought it best to reply that he would be glad 
to go on such an adventure, since nothing better 
could be done, and that any thing was preferable 
to a piratical life. 

July 4ith. — The vessel in sight proved to be a 
small brig from Liverpool, and was allowed 
to pass unmolested. Augustus spent most of 
his time on deck, with a view of obtaining all 
the information in his power respecting the in- 
tentions of the mutineers. They had frequent 
and violent quarrels among themselves, in one 
of which a harpooner, Jem Bonner, was thrown 
overboard. The party of the mate was gaining 
ground. Jem Bonner belonged to the cook's 
gang, of which Peters was a partisan. 

July bth. — About daybreak there came on 
a stiff breeze from the west, which at noon 
freshened into a gale, so that the brig could 
carry nothing more than her trysail and fore- 
sail. In taking in the foretopsail, Simms, one 
of the common hands, and belonging also to 
the cook's gang, fell overboard, being very 



26 



The novel newspaper. 



much in liquor, and was drowned, no attempt 
being made to save him. The whole number 
of persons on board was now thirteen, to wit : 

Dirk Peters; Seymour, the black cook; > 

Jones; Greely; Hartman Rogers, and 

William Allen, of the cook's party : the mate 
(whose name I never learned), Absalom Hicks, 

Wilson, John Hunt, and Richard Parker, 

of the mate's party — besides Augustus and 
myself. 

July 6th — The gale lasted all this day, blow- 
ing in heavy squalls, accompanied with rain. 
The brig took in a good deal of water through 
her seams, and one of the pumps was kept con- 
tinually going, Augustus being forced to take 
his turn. Just at twilight a large ship passed 
close by us, without having been discovered 
until within hail. This ship was supposed to 
be the one for which the mutineers were on the 
look-out. The mate hailed her, but the reply 
was drowned in the roaring of the gale. At 
eleven, a sea was shipped amid-ships, which 
tore away a greatj portion of the larboard bul- 
warks, and did some other slight damage. 
Towards morning the weather moderated, and 
at sunrise there was very little wind. 

July 7th. — There was a heavy swell running 
all this day, during which the brig, being light, 
rolled excessively, and many articles broke 
loose in the hold, as I could hear distinctly 
from my hiding-place. I suffered a great deal 
from sea-sickness. Peters had a long conver- 
sation this day with Augustus, and told him 
that two of his gang, Greely and Allen, had 
gone over to the mate, and were resolved to 
turn pirates. He put several questions to 
Augustus which he did not then exactly under- 
stand. During a part of this evening the leak 
gained upon the vessel; and little could be 
done to remedy it, as it was occasioned by the 
brig's straining, and taking in the water through 
her seams. A sail was thrummed, and got 
■under the bows, which aided us in some 
measure, so that we began to gain upon the 
leak. 

July 8th. — A light breeze sprung up at sun- 
rise from the eastward, when the mate headed 
the brig to the south-west, with the intention of 
making some of the West India islands, in pur- 
suance of his piratical designs. No opposition 
was made by Peters or the cook ; at least none 
in the hearing of Augustus. All idea of taking 
the vessel from the Cape Verds was abandoned. 
The leak was now easily kept under by one 
pump going every three-quarters of an hour. 
The sail was drawn from beneath the bows. 
Spoke two small schooners during the day. 

July 9th.— Fine weather. All hands em- 
ployed in repairing bulwarks. Peters had 
again a long conversation with Augustus, and 
spoke more plainly than he had done hereto- 
fore. He said nothing should induce him to 
come into the mate's views, and even hinted his 
intention of taking the brig out of his hands. 
He asked my friend if he could depend upon 
his aid in such case ; to which Augustus said, 



" Yes,'* without hesitation. Peters then sai 
he would sound the others of his party upon 
the subject, and went away. During the re- 
mainder of the day Augustus had no opportu* 
nity of speaking with him privately. 



CHAPTER VII. 



July 10th. — Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to 
Norfolk. Weather hazy, with a light barling 
wind from the eastward. To-day Hartman 
Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth 
with spasms, after drinking a glass of grog. 
This man was of the cook's party, and one upon 
whom Peters placed his main reliance. He 
told Augustus that he believed the mate had 
poisoned him, and that he expected, if he did 
not be on the look-out, his own turn would 
come shortly. There were now only himself,. 
Jones, and the cook belonging to his own gang; 
on the other side there were five. He had 
spoken to Jones about taking the command from 
the mate ; but the project having been coolly 
received, he had been deterred from pressing 
the matter any further, or from saying any thing 
to the cook. It was well, as it happened, that 
he was so prudent, for in the afternoon 
the cook expressed his determination of 
siding with the mate, and went over formally 
to that party ; while Jones took an opportunity 
of quarrelling with Peters, and hinted that he 
would let the mate know of the plan in agita- 
tion. There was now, evidently, no time to be 
lost, and Peters expressed his determination of 
attempting to take the vessel at all hazards, 
provided Augustus would lend him his aid. 
My friend at once assured him of his willing- 
ness to enter into any plan for that purpose, and 
thinking the opportunity a favourable one, made 
known the fact of my being on board. At this 
the hybrid was not more astonished than de- 
lighted, as he had no reliance whatever upon 
Jones, whom he already considered as belonging 
to the party of the mate. They went below im- 
mediately, when Augustus called to me by 
name, and Peters and myself were soon made 
acquainted. It was agreed that we should at- 
tempt to retake the vessel upon the first good 
opportunity, leaving Jones altogether out of our 
councils. In the event of success we were to 
run the brig into the first port that offered, and 
deliver her up. The desertion of his party had 
frustrated Peters' design of going into the 
Pacific— an adventure which could not be ac- 
complished without a crew, and he depended 
upon either getting acquitted upon trial on the 
score of insanity (which he solemnly averred 
had actuated him in lending his aid to the 
mutiny), or upon obtaining a pardon, if tound 
guilty, through the representations of Augustus 
and myself. Our deliberations were inter- 
rupted for the present by the cry of " All hands- 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



take in sail," and Peters and Augustus ran up 
on deck. 

As usual, the crew were nearly all drunk ; 
and before sail could be properly taken in, a 
violent squall laid the brig on her beam ends. 
By keeping her away, however, she righted, 
having shipped a good deal of water. Scarcely 
was every thing secure when another squall 
took the vessel, and immediately afterward 
another — no damage being done. There was 
every appearance of a gale of wind, which, 
indeed, shortly came on, with great fury, from 
the northward and westward. All was made 
as snug as possible, and we laid to, as usual, 
under a close-reefed foresail. As night drew 
on, the wind increased in violence, with a re- 
markably heavy sea. Peters now came into 
the forecastle with Augustus, and we resumed 
our deliberations. 

We agreed that no opportunity could be more 
favourable than the present for carrying our 
design into effect, as an attempt at such a mo- 
ment would never be anticipated. As the brig 
was snugly laid to, there would be no necessity 
of manoeuvring her until good weather, when, 
if we succeeded in our attempt, we might 
liberate one, or perhaps two of the men, to aid 
us in taking her into port. The main difficulty 
was the great disproportion in our forces. 
There were only three of us, and in the cabin 
there were nine. All the arms on board, too, 
were in their possession, with the exception of 
a pair of small pistils which Peters had con- 
cealed about his person, and the large seaman's 
knife which he always wore in the waistband of 
his pantaloons. From certain indications, too, 
such, for example, as there being no such thing 
as an axe or a handspike lying in their custom- 
ary places, we began to fear that the mate had 
his suspicions, at least in regard to Peters, and 
that he would let slip no opportunity of getting 
lid of him. It was clear, indeed, that what we 
should determine to do could not be done too 
soon. Still the odds were too much against us 
to allow.of our proceeding without the greatest 
-caution. 

. Peters proposed that he should go up on 
deck, and enter into conversation with the 
watch (Allen), when he would be able to throw 
him into the sea without trouble, and without 
making any disturbance, by seizing a good op- 
portunity; that Augustus and myself should 
then come up, and endeavour to provide our- 
selves with some kind of weapons from the 
deck; and that we should then make a rush 
together, and secure the companion-way before 
any opposition could be offered. I objected to 
this, because I could not believe that the mate 
(who was a cunning fellow in all matters which 
did not effect his superstitious prejudices) 
would suffer himself to be so easily entrapped. 
The very fact of there being a watch on deck 
at all was sufficient proof that he was upon the 
alert, it not being usual, except in vessels 
where discipline is most rigidly enforced, to 
Station a watch on deck when a vessel is 



27 

lying to in a gale of wind. As I address 
myself principally, if not altogether, to persons 
who have never been to sea, it may be as well 
to state the exact condition of a vessel under 
such circumstances. Lying to, or, in sea-par- 
lance, "laying to," is a measure resorted to 
for various purposes, and effected in various 
manners. In moderate weather, it is often done 
with a view of bringing the vessel to a stand- 
still, to wait for another vessel, or any similar 
object. If the vessel which lies to is under 
full sail, the manoeuvre is usually accomplished 
by throwing round some portion of her sails so 
as to let the wind take them aback, when she 
becomes stationary. But we are now speaking 
of lying to in a gale of wind. This is done 
when the wind is ahead, and too violent to ad- 
mit of carrying sail without danger of capsiz- 
ing; and sometimes even when the wind is 
fair, but the sea too heavy for the vessel to be 
put before it. If a vessel be suffered to scud 
before the wind in a very heavy sea, much 
damage is usually done her by the shipping of 
water over the stern, and sometimes by the 
violent plunges she makes forward. This ma- 
noeuvre, then, is seldom resorted to in such 
case, unless through necessity. When the 
vessel is in a leaky condition, she is often put 
before the wind even in the heaviest seas; for, 
when lying to, her seams are sure to be greatly 
opened by her violent straining, and it is not 
so much the case when scudding. Often, too, 
it becomes necessary to scud a vessel, either 
when the blast is so exceedingly furious as to 
tear in pieces the sail which is employed with 
a view of bringing her head to the wind, or 
when, through the false modelling of the frame 
or other causes, this main object cannot be 
effected. 

Vessels in a gale of wind are laid to in 
different manners, according to their peculiar 
construction. Some lie to best under a fore- 
sail, and this, I believe, is the sail most usually 
employed. Large square-rigged vessels have 
sails for the express purpose, called storm-stay- 
sails. But the jib is occasionally employed by 
itself; sometimes the jib and foresail, or a 
double-reefed foresail, and not unfrequently the 
aftersails are made use of. Foretopsails are 
very often found to answer the purpose better 
than other species of sail. The Grampus was 
generally laid to under a close-reefed topsail. 

When a vessel is to be laid to, her head is 
brought up to the wind just so nearly as to fill 
the sail under which she lies when hauled flat 
aft, that is, when brought diagonally across the 
vessel. This being done, the bows point within 
a few degrees of the direction from which the 
wind issues, and the windward bow of course 
receives the shock of the waves. In this situa- 
tion a good vessel will ride out a very heavy 
gale of wind without shipping a drop of water, 
and without any further attention being requi- 
site on the part of the crew. The helm is 
usually lashed down, but this is altogether un- 
necessary (except on account of' the noise it 



28 



Tilt NOVEL NEWSPAPER* 



makes when loose), for the rudder has no effect 
upon the vessel when lying to. Indeed^ the 
helm had far better be left loose than lashed 
very fast, for the rudder is apt to be torn off by 
heavy seas, if there be no room for the helm to 
play. As long as the sail holds, a well-modelled 
vessel will maintain her situation, and ride 
every sea, as if instinct with life and reason. 
If the violence of the wind, however, should 
tear the sail into pieces (a feat which it requires 
a perfect hurricane to accomplish under ordi- 
nary circumstance) there is then imminent 
danger. The vessel falls off from the wind, 
and coming broadside to the sea, is completely 
at its mercy : the only resource in this case is 
to put her quickly before the wind, letting her 
scud until some other sail can be set. Some 
vessels will lie to under no sail whatever, but 
such are not to be trusted at sea. 

But to return from this digression. It had 
never been customary with the male to have 
any watch on deck when lying to in a gale of 
wind, and the fact that he had now one, coupled 
with the circumstance of the missing axes and 
handspikes, fully convinced us that the crew 
were too well on the watch to be taken by sur- 
prise in the manner Peters had suggested. 
Something, however, was to be done, and that 
with as little delay as practicable, for there 
could be no doubt that a suspicion having been 
once entertained against Peters, he would be 
sacrificed upon the earliest occasion ; and one 
would certainly be either found or made upon 
the breaking of the gale. 

Augustus now suggested, that if Peters could 
contrive to remove, under any pretext, the piece 
of chain-cable which lay over the trap in the 
state-room, we might possibly be able to come 
upon them unawares by means of the hold ; 
but a little reflection convinced us that the 
vessel rolled and pitched too violently for any 
attempt of that nature. 

By good fortune I at length hit upon the idea 
of working upon the superstitious terrors and 
guilty conscience of the mate. It will be re- 
membered that one of the crew, Hartman 
Rogers, had died during the morning, having 
been attacked two days before with spasms 
after drinking some spirits and water. Peters 
had expressed to us his opinion that this man 
had been poisoned by the mate ; and for this 
belief he had reasons, so he said, which were 
incontrovertible, but which he could not be 
prevailed upon to explain to us— this wayward 
refusal being only in keeping with other points 
of his singular character. But whether or not 
he had any better grounds for suspecting the 
mate than we had ourselves, we were easily 
led to fall in with his suspicion, and determined 
to act accordingly. 

Rogers had died about eleven in the fore- 
noon in violent convulsions; and the corpse 
presented in a few minutes after death one of 
the most horrid and loathsome spectacles 1 
ever remember to have seen. The stomach 
was swollen immenselv, like that of a man who 



had been drowned, and lain under water for 
many weeks. The hands were in the same 
condition, while the face was shrunken, shri- 
velled, and of a chalky whiteness, except where 
relieved by two or three glaring red splotches, 
like those occasioned by the erysipelas : one of 
these splotches extended diagonally across the 
face, completely covering up an eye, as if with 
a band of red velvet. In this disgusting con- 
dition the body had been brought up from the 
cabin at noon to be thrown overboard, when 
the mate getting a glimpse of it (for he now 
saw it for the first time), and being either 
touched with remorse for his crime, or struck 
with terror at so horrible a sight, ordered the 
men to sew the body up in its hammock, and 
allow it the usual rites of sea burial. Having 
giving these directions he went below, as if to 
avoid any further sight of his victim. While 
preparations were making to obey his orders, 
the gale came on with great fury, and the de- 
sign was abandoned for the present. The 
corpse, left to itself, was washed into the lar- 
board scuppers, where it still lay at the time of 
which I speak, floundering about with the fu- 
rious lurches of the brig. 

Having arranged our plan, we set about 
putting it in execution as speedily as possible. 
Peters went upon deck, and as he had antici- 
pated, was immediately accosted by Allen, who 
appeared to be stationed more as a watch upon 
the forecastle than for any other purpose. The 
fate of this villain, however, was speedily and 
silently decided ; for Peters, approaching him 
in a careless manner, as if about to address 
him, seized him by the throat, and, before he 
could utter a single cry. tossed him over the 
bulwarks. He then called to us, and we came 
up. Our first precaution was to look about for 
something with which to arm ourselves, and in 
doing this we had to proceed with great care, 
for it was impossible to stand on deck an in- 
stant without holding fast, and violent seas 
broke over the vessel at every plunge forward. 
It was indispensable, too, that we shoufd be 
quick in our operations, for every minute we 
expected the mate up to set the pumps going, 
as it was evident the brig must be taken in 
water very fast. After searching about for 
some time, we could find nothing more fit for 
our purpose than the two pump-handles, one of 
which Augustus took, and I the other. Having 
secured these, we stripped off the shirt of th« 
corpse, and dropped the body overboard. 
Peters and myself then went below, leaving 
Augustus to watch upon deck, when he took 
his station just where Allen had been placed, 
and with his back to the cabin companion-way, 
so that, if any one of the mate's gang should 
come up, he might suppose it was the watch. 

As soon as I got below, I commenced dis- 
guising myself so as to represent the corpse of 
Rogers. The shirt, which we had taken from 
the body, aided us very much; for it was of a 
singular form and character, and easily recog- 
nisable -a kind of smock, which the deceased 



ADVENTbRL§ Ofr ARTHUR GORDON *>YM. 



29> 



•wore over his other clothing. It was a blue 
stockinet, with large white stripes running 
across. Having put this on, I proceeded to 
equip myself with a false stomach, in imitation 
of the horrible deformity of the swollen corpse. 
This was soon effected by means of stuffing 
with some bedclothes. I then gave the same 
appearance to my hands by drawing on a pair 
of white woollen mittens, and filling them in 
with any kind of rags that offered themselves. 
Peters then arranged my face, first rubbing 
it well over with white chalk, and afterwards 
splotching it with blood, which he took from a 
cut in his finger. The streak across the eye 
was not forgotten, and presented a most shock- 
ing appearance. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



As I viewed myself in a fragment of looking- 
glass which hung up in the cabin, and by the 
dim light of a kind of battle-lantern, I was so 
impressed with a sense of vague awe at my 
appearance, and at the recollection of the ter- 
rific reality which I was thus representing, that 
I was seized with a violent tremor, and could 
scarcely summon resolution to go on with my 
part. It was necessary, however, to act with 
decision, and Peters and myself went upon 
deck. 

We there found every thing safe, and keeping 
close to the bulwarks, the three of us crept to 
the cabin companion-way. It was only par- 
tially closed, precaution having been taken to 
I prevent its being suddenly pushed to from 
without, by means of placing billets of wood 
\ on the upper step so as to interfere with the 
j shutting. We found no difficulty in getting a 
I full view of the interior of the cabin through 
| the cracks where the hinges were placed. It 
i now proved to have been very fortunate for us 
that we had not attempted to take them by 
surprise, for they were evidently on* the alert. 
Only one was asleep, and he lying just at the 
I foot of the companion ladder, with a musket 
by his side. The rest were seated on several 
mattresses, which had been taken from the 
berths and thrown on the floor. They were 
engaged in earnest conversation; and although 
1 they had been carousing, as appeared from two 
I .empty jugs, with some tin tumblers which lay 
about, they were not as much intoxicated as 
usual. All had knives, one or two of them 
pistols, and a great many muskets were lying 
in a berth close at hand. 

We listened to their conversation for some 
time before we could make up our minds how 
to act, having as yet resolved on nothing deter- 
minate, except that we would attempt to para- 
lyse their exertions, when we should attack 
them, by means of the apparition of Rogers. 
They were discussing their piratical plans, in, 



which all we could hear distinctly was, thafe 
they would unite with the crew of a schooner^ 
Hornet, and if possible, get the schooner her- 
self into their possession, preparatory to some 
attempt on a large scale, the particulars of 
which could not be made out by either of us. 

One of the men spoke of Peters, when the 
mate replied to him in a low voice which could 
not be distinguished, and afterward added more 
loudly, that "he could not understand his 
being so much forward with the captain's brat in 
the forecastle, and he thought the sooner both 
of them were overboard the better." To this 
no answer was made ; but we could easily per- 
ceive that the hint was well received by the 
whole party, more particularly by Jones. At 
this period I was excessively agitated, the more 
so as I could see that neither Augustus nor 
Peters could determine how to act. I made 
up my mind, however, to sell my life as dearly 
as possible, and not to suffer myself to be over- 
come by any feelings of trepidation. 

The tremendous noise made by the roaring 
of the wind in the rigging and the washing of 
the sea over the deck prevented us from hearing 
what was said, except during momentary lulls. 
In one of these we all distinctly heard the mate 
tell one of the men to " go forward, and order 
the d — d lubbers to come into the cabin, where 
he could have an eye upon them, for he wanted 
no such secret doings on board the brig." It 
was well for us that the pitching of the vessel 
at this moment was so violent as to prevent 
this order from being carried into instant execu- 
tion. The cook got up from his mattress to ga 
for us, when a tremendous lurch, which I 
thought would carry away the masts, threw 
him headlong against one of the larboard state- 
room doors, bursting it open, and creating a 
good deal of other confusion. Luckily, neither 
of our party was thrown from his position, and 
we had time to make a precipitate retreat to 
the forecastle, and arrange a hurried plan of 
action before the messenger made his appear- 
ance, or rather before he put his head out of 
the companion -hatch, for he did not come on 
deck. From this station he could not notice 
the absence of Allen, and he accordingly 
bawled out as if to him, repeating the orders of 
the mate. Peters cried out, " Ay, ay," in a 
disguised voice, and the cook immediately went 
below, without entertaining a suspicion that all 
was not right. 

My two companions now proceeded boldly 
aft and down into the cabin, Peters closing the 
door after him in the same manner he had 
found it. The mate received them with feigned 
cordiality, and told Augustus that, since he 
had behaved himself so well of late, he might 
take up his quarters in the cabin and be one 
of them for the future. He then poured him 
out a tumbler half full of rum, and made him 
drink it. All this I saw and heard, for I fol- 
lowed my friends to the cabin as soon as the 
door was shut, and took up my old point cf 
observation. I had brought with me the two 



30 



THE NOVF,L NEWSPAPER, 



pump-handles, one of which I secured near the 
companion-way, to be ready for use when re- 
quired. 

I now steadied myself as well as possible, so 
as to have a good view of all that was pas sg 
within, and endeavoured to nerve myself to 
the task of descending among the mutineers 
when Peters should make a signal to me as 
agreed upon. Presently he contrived to turn 
the conversation upon the bloody deeds of the 
mutiny, and by degrees led the men to talk of 
the thousand superstitions which are so univer- 
sally current among seamen. I could not make 
out all that was said, but I could plainly see 
the effects of the conversation in the counte- 
nances of those present. The mate was evi- 
dently much agitated, and presently, when one 
mentioned the terrific appearance of Rogers's 
corpse, I thought he was upon the point of 
swooning. Peters now asked him if he did 
not think it would be better to have the body 
thrown overboard at once, as it was too horrible 
a sight to see it floundering about in the scup- 
pers. At this the villain absolutely gasped for 
breath, and turned his head slowly round, as if 
imploring some one to go up and perform the 
task. No one, however, stirred, and it was 
quite evident that the whole party were wound 
up to the highest pitch of nervous excitement. 
Peters now made the signal. I immediately 
threw open the door of the companion-way, and 
descending without uttering a syllable, stood 
erect in the midst of the party. 

The intense effect produced by this sudden 
apparition is not at all to be wondered at when 
the various circumstances are taken into con- 
sideration. Usually, in cases of a similar na- 
ture,, there is left in the mind of the spectator 
some glimmering of doubt as to the reality of 
the vision before his eyes ; a degree of hope, 
however feeble, that he is the victim of chi- 
canery, and that the apparition is not actually 
a visitant from the world of shadows. It is not 
too much to say that such remnants of doubt 
have been at the bottom of almost every such 
visitation, and that the appalling horror, which 
has sometimes been brought about, is to be 
attributed, even in the cases most in point, and 
where most suffering has been experienced, 
more to a kind of anticipative horror, lest the 
apparition might possibly be real, than to an 
unwavering belief in its reality. But, in the 
present instance, it will be seen immediately, 
that in the minds of the mutineers there was 
not even a shadow of the basis upon which to 
rest a doubt that the apparition of Rogers was 
indeed a revivification of his disgusting corpse, 
or at least its spiritual image. The isolated 
situation of the brig, with its entire inaccessi- 
bility on account of the gale, confined the ap- 
parently possible means of deception within 
such narrow and definite limits, that they must 
have thought themselves enabled to survey them 
all at a glance. They had now been at sea 
twenty-four days, without holding more than a 
ppeaking communication with any vessel what- 



ever. The whole of the crew, too, at least all 
whom they had the most remote reason for sus- 
pecting to be on board, were assembled in the 
cabin, with the exception of Allen, the watch; 
and his gigantic stature (he was six feet six 
inches in height) was too familiar in their eyes 
to permit the notion, that he was the apparition 
before them, to enter their minds even for an 
instant. Add to these considerations the awe- 
inspiring nature of the tempest, and that of the 
conversation brought about by Peters; the 
deep impression which the loathsomeness of the 
actual corpse had made in the morning upon the 
imaginations of the men ; the excellence of the 
imitation in my person ; and the uncertain and 
wavering light in which they beheld me, as the 
glare of the cabin lantern, swinging violently to 
and fro, fell dubiously and fitfully upon my 
figure, and there will be no reason to wonder 
that the deception had even more than the en- 
tire effect we had anticipated. The mate sprang 
up from the mattress on which he was lying, 
and without uttering a syllable, fell back, stone 
dead, upon the cabin floor, and was hurled to 
the leeward like a log by "a heavy roll of the 
brig. Of the remaining seven, there were but 
three who had at first any degree of presence of 
mind. The four others sat for some time rooted 
apparently to the floor, the most pitiable objects 
of horroi and utter despair my eyes ever en- 
countered. The only opposition we experienced 
at all was from the cook, John Hunt, and 
Richard Parker ; but they made but a feeble 
and irresolute defence. The two former were 
shot instantly by Peters, and I felled Parker 
with a blow on the headfiom the pump-handle 
which I had brought with me. In the mean 
time Augustus seized one of the muskets lying 

on the floor, and shot another mutineer ( 

Wilson) through the breast. There were now 
but three remaining ; but by this time they had 
become aroused from their lethargy, and per- 
haps began to see that a deception had been 
practised upon them, for they fought with great 
resolution and fury, and, but for the immense 
muscular strength of Peters, might have ulti- 
mately got the better of us. These three men 

were Jones, Greely, and A.bsalom 

Hicks. Jones had thrown Augustus on the 
floor, stabbed him in several places along the 
right arm, and would no doubt have soon dis- 
patched him (as neither Peters nor myself 
could get rid of our antagonists), had it not 
been for the timely aid of a friend upon whose 
assistance we surely had never depended. This 
friend was no other than Tiger. With a low 
growl he bounded into the cabin at a most crit- 
ical moment for Augustus, and throwing himself 
upon Jones, pinned him to the floor in an in- 
stant. My friend, however, was now too much 
injured to render us any aid whatever, and I 
was so encumbered with my disguise that I 
could do but little. The dog would not quit 
his hold upon the throat of Jones; — Peters, 
nevertheless, was far more than a match, 
for the two men who remained, and would, 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



31 



tio doubt, have dispatched them sooner, 
had it not been for the narrow space in which 
he had to act, and the tremendous lurches of 
the vessel. Presently he was enabled to get 
hold of a heavy stool, several of which lay 
about the floor. With this he beat out the 
brains of Greely as he was in the act of dis- 
charging a musket at me, and immediately 
afterward a roll of the brig throwing him in 
contact with Hicks, he seized him by the 
throat, and by dint of sheer strength, strangled 
him instantaneously. Thus, in far less time 
than I have taken to tell it, we found ourselves 
masters of the brig. 

The only person of our opponents who was 
left alive was Richard Parker. This man, it 
•will be remembered, I had knocked down with 
a blow from the pump-handle at the commence- 
ment of the attack. He now lay motionless by 
the door of the shattered state-rooms ; but, 
upon Peters touching him with his foot, he 
spoke, and entreated for mercy. His head was 
only slightly cut, and otherwise he had re- 
ceived no injury, having been merely stunned 
by the blow. He now got up, and for the pre- 
sent we secured his hands behind his back. 
The dog was still growling over Jones ; but, 
upon examination, we found him completely 
dead, the blood issuing in a stream from a deep 
•wound in the throat, inflicted, no doubt, by the 
sharp teeth of the animal. 

It was now about one o'clock in the morning, 
and the wind was still blowing tremendously. 
The brig evidently laboured much more than 
usual, and it became absolutely necessary that 
something should be done with a view of easing 
her in some measure. At almost every roll to 
leeward she shipped a sea, several of which 
came partially down into the cabin during our 
scuffle, the hatchway having been left open by 
myself when I descended. The entire range 
of bulwarks to larboard had been swept away, 
as well as the caboose, together with the jolly- 
boat from the counter. The creaking and 
working of the mainmast, too, gave indication 
that it was nearly sprung. To make room for 
more stowage in the after-hold, the heel of this 
mast had been stepped between decks (a very 
reprehensible practice, occasionally resorted to 
by ignorant shipbuilders), so that it was in im- 
minent danger of working from its step. But, 
to crown all our difficulties, we plummed the 
•well, and found no less than seven feet water. 

Leaving the bodies of the crew in the cabin, 
•we got to work immediately at the pumps, 
Parker, of course, being set at liberty to assist 
us in the labour. Augustus's arm was bound 
up as well as we could effect it, and he did 
what he could, and that was not much. How- 
ever, we found that we could just manage to 
keep the leak from gaining upon us by having 
one pump constantly going. As there were 
only four of us, this, was severe labour, but we 
endeavoured to keep up our spirits, and looked 
anxiously for daybreak, when we hoped to 
lighten the brig by cutting away the mainmast. 



In this manner we passed a night of terrible 
anxiety and fatigue, and, when the day at 
length broke, the gale had neither abated in 
the least, nor were there any signs of its abat- 
ing. We now dragged the bodies on deck, and 
threw them overboard. Our next care was to 
get rid of the mainmast. The necessary pre- 
parations having been made, Peters cut away 
at the mast, (having found axes in the cabin,) 
while the rest of us stood by the stays and 
lanyards. As the brig gave a tremendous lee- 
lurch, the word was given to cut away the 
weather-lanyards, which being done, the whole 
mass of wood and rigging plunged into the sea, 
clear of the brig, and without doing any ma- 
terial injury. We now found that the vessel 
did not labour quite as much as before, but our 
situation was still exceedingly precarious, and, 
in spite of the utmost exertions, we could not 
gain upon the leak without the aid of both 
pumps. The little assistance which Augustus 
could render us was not really of any import- 
ance. To add to our distress, a heavy sea, 
striking the brig to windward, threw her off 
several points from the wind, and, before she 
could regain her position, another broke com- 
pletely over her, and hurled her full upon her 
beam-ends. The ballast now shifted in a mass 
to leeward — the stowage had been knocking 
about perfectly at random for some time, and 
for a few moments we thought nothing could 
save us from capsizing. Presently, however, 
we partially righted ; but the ballast still re- 
taining its place to larboard, we lay so much 
along that it was useless to think of working 
the pumps, which, indeed, we could not have 
done much longer in any case, as our hands 
were entirely raw with the excessive labour we 
had undergone, and were bleeding in the most 
horrible manner. 

Contrary to Parker's advice, we now pro- 
ceeded to cut away the foremast, and at length 
accomplished it after much difficulty, owing to 
the position in which we lay. In going over- 
board the wreck took with it the bowsprit, and 
left us a complete hulk. 

So far we had had reason to rejoice in the 
escape of our longboat, which had received no 
damage from any of the huge seas which had 
come on board. But we had not long to con- 
gratulate ourselves ; for the foremast having 
gone, and, of course, the foresail with it, by 
which the brig had been steadied, every sea 
now made a complete breach over us, and in 
five minutes our deck was swept from stem to 
stern, the longboat and starboard bulwarks 
torn off, and even the windlass shattered into 
fragments. It was, indeed, hardly possible for 
us to be in a more pitiable condition. 

At noon there seemed to be some slight ap- 
pearance of the gale's abating, but in this we 
were sadly disappointed, for it only lulled for 
a few minutes to blow with redoubled fury. 
About four in the afternoon it was utterly im- 
possible to stand up against the violence of the 
blast j and as the night closed in upon us, I 



32 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER, 



had not a shadow of hope that the vessel 
would hold together until morning. 

By midnight we had settled very deep in the 
water, which was now up to the orlop deck. 
The rudder went soon afterward ; the sea 
which tore it away lifting the after-portion of 
the brig entirely from the water, against which 
she thumped in her descent with such a concus- 
sion as would be occasioned by going ashore. 
We had all calculated that the rudder would 
hold its own to the last, as it was unusually 
strong, being rigged as I have never seen one 
rigged either before or since. Down its main 
timber there ran a succession of stout iron 
hooks, and others in the same manner down 
the stern-post. Through these hooks there ex- 
tended a very thick wrought-iron rod, the rud- 
der being thus held to the stern-post, and 
swinging freely on the rod. The tremendous 
force of the sea which tore it off may be esti- 
mated by the fact, that the hooks in the stern- 
post, which ran entirely through it, being 
•clinched on the inside, were drawn every one 
of them completely out of the solid wood. 

We had scarcely time to draw breath after 
the violence of this shock, when one of the 
most tremendous waves I had then ever known 
broke right on board of us, sweeping the com- 
panion-way clear off, bursting in the hatch- 
ways, and filling every inch of the vessel with 
water. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Luckily, just before night, all four of us had 
lashed ourselves firmly to the fragments of the 
windlass, lying in this manner as fiat upon the 
-deck as possible. This precaution alone saved 
us from destruction. As it was, we were all 
more or less stunned by the immense weight of 
water which tumbled upon us, and which did 
not roll from above us until we were nearly ex- 
hausted. As soon as I could recover breath, 
I called aloud to my companions. Augustus 
alone replied, saying, " It is all over with us, 
and may God have mercy on our souls." 
By-and-by both the others were enabled to 
■speak, when they exhorted us to take courage, 
as there was still hope ; it being impossible, 
from the nature of the cargo, that the brig 
could go down, and there being every chance 
that the gale would blow over by the morning. 
These words inspired me with new life; for 
strange as it may seem, although it was obvious 
that a vessel with a cargo of empty oil-casks 
would not sink, I had been hitherto so con- 
fused in mind as to have overlooked this con- 
sideration altogether ; and the danger which I 
had for some time regarded as the most im- 
minent was that of foundering. As hope re- 
vived within me, I made use of every oppor- 
tunity to strengthen the lashings which held me 



to the remains of the windlass, and in this' oc- 
cupation I soon discovered that my companions 
were also busy. The night was as dark as it 
could possibly be, and the horrible shrieking, 
din, and confusion which surrounded us it is 
useless to attempt describing. Our deck lay 
level with the sea, or rather we weje encircled 
with a towering ridge of foam, a portion of 
which swept over us every instant. It is not 
too much to say that our heads were not fairly 
out of water more than one second in three. 
Although we lay close together, no one of us 
could see the other, or, indeed, any portion of 
the brig itself, upon which we were so tem- 
pestuously hurled about. At intervals we 
called one to the other, thus endeavouring to 
keep alive hope, and render consolation and 
encouragement to such of us as stood most in 
need of it. The feeble condition of Augustus 
made him an object of solicitude with us all ; 
and as, from the lacerated condition of his 
right arm, it must have been impossible for him 
to secure his lashings with any degree of firm- 
ness, we were in momentary expectation of 
finding that he had gone overboard : yet to ren- 
der him aid was a thing altogether out of the 
question. Fortunately, his station was more 
secure than that of any of the rest of us ; for 
the upper part of his body lying just beneath 
a portion of the shattered windlass, the seas, as 
they tumbled in upon him, were greatly broken 
in their violence. In any other situation than 
this (into which he had been accidentally 
thrown after having lashed himself in a very 
exposed spot) he must inevitably have perished 
before morning. Owing to the brig's lying so 
much along, we were all less liable to be 
washed oft' than otherwise would have been 
the case. The heel, as I have before stated, 
was to larboard, about one half of the deck 
being constantly under water. The seas, 
therefore, which struck us to starboard were 
much broken by the vessel's side, only reach- 
ing us in fragments as we lay fiat on our faces ; 
while those which came from larboard, being 
what are called back-water seas, and obtaining 
little hold upon us on account of our posture, 
had not sufficient force to drag us from our 
fastenings. 

In this frightful situation we lay until the 
day broke so as to show us more fully the 
horrors which surrounded us. The brig was a 
mere log, rolling about at the mercy of every 
wave ; the gale was upon the increase, if any- 
thing, blowing indeed a complete hurricane, 
and there appeared to us no earthly prospect 
of deliverance. For several hours we held on 
in silence, expecting every moment that our 
lashings would either give way, that the re- 
mains of the windlass would go by the board, 
or that some of the huge seas, which roared in 
every direction around us and above us, would 
drive the hulk so far beneath the water that 
we should be drowned before it could regain 
the surface. By the mercy of God, however, 
we were preserved from these imminent dan- 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



gers, and about midday were cheered by the 
light of the blessed sun. Shortly afterward 
we could perceive a sensible diminution in the 
force of the wind, when, now for the first time 
since the latter part of the evening before, 
Augustus spoke, asking Peters, who lay closest 
to him, if he thought there was any possibility 
of our being saved. As no reply was at first 
made to this question, we all concluded that 
the hybrid had been drowned where he lay ; 
but presently, to our great joy, he spoke, al- 
though very feebly, saying that he was in great 
pain, being" so cut by the tightness of his lash- 
ings across the stomach, that he must either 
find means of loosening them or perish, as it 
was impossible that he could endure his misery 
much longer. This occasioned us great dis- 
tress, as it was altogether useless to think of 
aiding him in any manner while the sea con- 
tinued washing over us as it did. We exhorted 
him to bear his sufferings with fortitude, and 
promised to seize the first opportunity which 
should offer itself to relieve him. He replied 
that it would soon be too late — that it would 
be all over with him before we could help him ; 
and then, after moaning for some minutes, 
lay silent, when we concluded that he had 
perished. 

As the evening drew on the sea had fallen so 
much that scarcely more than one wave broke 
over the hulk from windward in the course of 
five minutes, and the wind had abated a great 
deal, although still blowing a severe gale. I 
had not heard any of my companions speak for 
hours, and now called to Augustus. He re- 
plied, although very feebly, so that I could not 
distinguish what he said. I then spoke to 
Peters and to Parker, neither of whom returned 
any answer. 

Shortly after this period I fell into a state of 
partial insensibility, during which the most 
pleasing images floated in my imagination, such 
as green trees, waving meadows of ripe grain, 
processions of dan< ing girls, troops of cavalry, 
and other fantasies. I now remembered that, 
in all which passed before my mind's eye, 
motion was a predominant idea. Thus, I never 
fancied any stationary object, such as a house, 
a mountain, or any thing of that kind; but 
windmills, ships, large birds, balloons, people 
on horseback, carriages driving furiously, and 
similar moving objects, presented themselves 
in endless succession. When I recovered from 
this state the sun was, as near as I could guess, 
an hour high. I had the greatest difficulty in 
bringing to recollection the various circum- 
stances connected with my situation, and for 
some time remained firmly convinced that I 
was still in the hold of the brig, near the box, 
and that the body of Parker was that of Tiger. 

When I at length completely came to my 
senses I found that the wind blew no more than 
a moderate breeze, and that the sea was com- 
paratively calm, so much so that it only washed 
over the brig amidships. My left arm had 
broken loose from its lashings, and was much 

The Novel Newspaper, No. 145. 



33- 

cut about the elbow; my right was entirely 
benumbed, and the hand and wrist swollen pro- 
digiously by the pressure of the rope, which 
had worked from the shoulder downward. I 
was also in great pain from another rope which 
went about my waist, and had been drawn to 
an insufferable degree of tightness. Looking 
round upon my companions, I saw that Peters; 
still lived, although a thick line was pulled so 
forcibly around his loins as to give him the 
appearance of being cut nearly in two; as I 
stirred, he made a feeble motion to me with his 
hand, pointing to the rope. Augustus gave no 
indication of life whatever, and was bent double 
across a splinter of the windlass. Parker spoke 
to me when he saw me moving, and asked me 
if I had not sufficient strength to release him 
from his situation, saying, that if I would sum- 
mon up what spirits I could, and contrive to 
untie him, we might yet save our lives, but that 
otherwise we must all perish. I told him to 
take courage, and I would endeavour to free 
him. Feeling in my pantaloons' pocket, 1 got 
hold of my penknife, and, after several inef- 
fectual attempts, at length succeeded in opening 
it. I then, with my left hand, managed to free 
my right from its fastenings, and afterward to 
cut the other ropes which held me. Upon at- 
tempting, however, to move from my position, 
I found that my legs failed me altogether, and 
that I could not get up, neither could 1 move 
my right arm in any direction. Upon men- 
tioning this to Parker, he advised me to lie quiet 
for a few minutes, holding on to the windlass 
with my left hand, so as to allow time for the 
blood to circulate. Doing this, the numbness 
presently began to die away, so that I could 
move first one of my legs and then the other ; 
and, shortly afterward, I regained the partial 
use of my right arm. I now crawled with great 
caution towards Parker without getting on my 
legs, and soon cut loose all the lashings about 
him, when, after a short delay, he also recovered 
the partial use of his limbs. We now lost no 
time in getting loose the rope from Peters. It 
had cut a deep gash through the waistband of 
his woollen pantaloons and through two shirts, 
and made its way into his groin, from which 
the blood flowed out copiously as we removed 
the cordage. No sooner had we removed it, 
however, than he spoke, and seemed to ex- 
perience instant relief, being able to move with 
much greater ease than either Parker or myself; 
this was no doubt owing to the discharge of 
blood. 

We had little hope that Augustus would re- 
cover, as he evinced no signs of life ; but, upon 
getting him, we discovered that he had merely 
swooned from loss of blood, the bandages we 
had placed around his wounded arm having 
been torn away by the water ; none of the ropes 
which held him to the windlass were drawn 
sufficiently tight to occasion his death. Having 
relieved him from the fastenings, and got him 
clear of the broken wood about the windlass, 
we secured him in a dry place to windward, 



34, 

•with his head somewhat lower than his body, 
and all thrte of us busied ourselves in chafing 
his limbs. In about half an hour he came to 
himself, although it was not until ihe next 
morning that he gave signs of recognising any 
of us, or had sufficient strength to speak. By 
the time we had thus got clear of our lashings 
it was quite dark, and it began to cloud up, so 
that we were again in the greatest agony lest it 
Should come on to blow hard, in which event 
nothing could have saved us from perishing, 
exhausted as we were. By good fortune it 
continued very moderate during the night, the 
sea subsiding every minute, which gave us great 
hopes of ultimate preservation. A gentle breeze 
still blew from the N. W., but the weather was 
riot at all cold. Augustus was lashed carefully 
to windward in such a manner as to prevent 
him from slipping overboard with the rolls of 
the ve ssel, as he was still too weak to hold on at 
all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. 
We sat close together, supporting each other 
■tyith the aid of the broken ropes about the 
windlass, and devising methods of escape from 
our lrightful situation. We derived much com- 
fort from taking off our clothes and wringing 
the w ater from them. When we put them on 
after this, they felt remarkably warm and plea- 
sant, and served to invigorate us in no little 
degree. We helped Augustus off with his, and 
wrung them for him, when he experienced the 
same comfort. 

. Our chief sufferings were now those of hunger 
and thirst, and, when we looked forward to the 
means of relief in this respect, our hearts sunk 
within us, and we were induced to regret that 
we had escaped the less dreadful perils of the 
sea. We endeavoured, however, to console 
ourselves with the hope of being speedily picked 
up by some vessel, and encouraged each other 
to bear with fortitude the evils that might 
happen. 

The morning of the fourteenth at length 
dawned, and the weather still continued clear 
and pleasant, with a steady but very light 
"breeze from tlie N. W. The sea was now quite 
smooth, and as, from some cause which we could 
not determine, the brig did not lie so much 
along as she had done before, the deck was com- 
paratively dry, and we could move about with 
freedom. We had now been better than three 
entire days and nights without either food or 
drink, and it became absolutely necessary that 
we should make an attempt to get up something 
from below. As the bug was completely full 
of water, we went to this work despond in gly, 
and with but little expectation of being able to 
obtain any thing. We made a kind of drag by 
drivi g some nails which we broke out from the 
remains of the companion-hatch into two pieces 
of wood. Tying these across each other, and 
fastening them to the end of a rope, we threw 
them into the cabin, and dragged them to and 
fro, in the faint hope ol being thus able to en- 
tangle some article which might be ol' use to us 
for food, or which might at least render us 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



assistance in getting it. We spent the greater 
part of the morning in this labour without effect, 
fishing up nothing more than a few bedclothes, 
which were readily caught by the nails. In- 
deed, our contrivance was so very clumsy, that 
any greater success was hardly to be anticipated. 

We now trier) the lorecastle, but equally in 
vain, and were upon the brink <>f despair, when 
Peteis proposed that we should fasien a rope to 
his body, and let him make an attempt to get 
up something by diving into the cabin. Ihis- 
proposition we hailed with all the delight which 
reviving hope could inspire. He proceeded 
immediately to strip oft his clothes wi*h the 
exception 01 his pantaloons; and a strong rope 
was then carefully fastened around his middle, 
being brought up over his shoulders in such a 
manner that there was no possibility of its slip- 
pin". Ihe undertaking was one ol great diffi- 
culty and danger, for, as we could hardly expect 
to find much, if any, provision in the cabin itself 
it was necessary that the diver, alter letting 
himself down, should make a turn to the right, 
and proceed under water a distance of ten or 
twelve feet, in a narrow passage, to the store- 
room, and return, without di awing breath. 

Every thing being ready, Peters now de- 
scended into the cabin, going down the com- 
panion-ladder until the water reached his chin. 
He then plunged in head first, turning to the 
right as he pmnged, and endeavouring to make 
his way to the storeroom. In this first attempt, 
however, he was altogether unsuccessful. In 
less than half a minute after his going down we 
felt the rope jerked violently (the signal we 
had agreed upon when he desired to be drawn 
up). We accordingly drew him up instantly, 
but so incautiously as to bruise him ba ly 
against the ladder. He had brought nothing 
with him, and had been unable to penetrate 
more than a very little way into the passage, 
owing to the constant exertions he found it 
necessary to make hi order to keep himself from 
floating up against the deck. Upon getting out 
he was veiy much exhaus;ed, and had to rest 
full fifteen minutes betore he could again ven- 
ture to descend. 

The second attempt met with even worse suc- 
cess; lor he remained so long under water 
without giving the signal, that, becoming 
alarmed for his safety, we drew him up without 
it, and found that he was almost at the last 
gasp, having, as he said, repeatedly jerked at 
the rope without our fi eling it. '1 his was pro- 
bably owing to a portion of it having become 
entangled in the balustrade at the loot of the 
ladder, 'this balustiade was, indeed, so much 
in the way, that we determined to remove it, if 
possible, before proceeding with our design- 
As we had no means of getting it away except 
by main force, we all descended into the water 
as far as we could on the ladder, and, giving a 
pull against it with our united strength, suc- 
ceeded in bieaking it down. 

The third attempt was equally unsuccessful 
with the two first, and it now became evident 



ADVENTIJStES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM, 



35 



that nothing could be done in t'.is maimer with- 
out the aid of some weight with which the diver 
■might steady himself, and keep 10 the floor of 
the cabin while making his search. For a long 
time we looked about in vain for something 
•which might answer this purpose ; but at length, 
to our great joy, we discovered one of the 
weather-foreciiains, so loose that we had not 
the least difficulty in wrenching it off. Having 
fastened this securely to one ■ f his ancles, 
Peters now made his fourth descent into the 
cabin, and this time succeeded in making his 
way to the door of the steward's room. To his 
Inexpressible grief, however, he found it locked, 
and was obliged to return without effecting an en- 
trance, as, with the greatest exertion, he could 
remain under water not more, at the utmost 
extent, than a single minute. Our affairs now 
looked gloomi y indeed, and neither Augustus 
nor myself could refrain from bursting into 
tears, as we thought of the host of difficulties 
which encompass, d us, and the slight proba- 
bility which existed of our finally making an 
escape. But this weakness was not of long 
duration. ♦ Throwing ourselves on our knees to 
God, we implored his aid in the many dangers 
which beset us ; and arose with renewed hope 
and vigour to think what could yet be done by 
mortal means towards accomplishing our de- 
liverance. 



CHAPTER X. 



Shortly afterward an incident occurred 
which I am induced to look upon as more in- 
tensely productive of emotion, as far more re- 
plete wiih the extremes first of delight and 
then of horror, than even any of the thousand 
•chances which afterward befel me in nine long 
years, crowded with events of the most start- 
ling, and, in many cases, of the most uncon- 
ceived and unconceivable character. We were 
lying on the deck near the companion-way, and 
debating the possibility of yet makiug our way 
into the store room, when, looking towards 
Augustus, who lay fronting myself, 1 perceived 
that he had become all at once deadly pale, and 
that his lips were quivering in the most singular 
and unaccountable manner. Greatly alarmed, 
I spoke to him, but he made me no reply, and 
I was beginning to think that he was sud- 
denly taken ill, when 1 took notice of his 
eyes, which were glaring apparently at some 
object behind me. 1 turned my head, and 
shall never forget the ecstatic joy which thrilled 
through every particle of my name, when I 
perceived a large brig bearing down upon us, 
and not more than a couple of miles off. I 
Sprung to my feet as if a musket bullet had 
suddenly struck me to the heart; and stretch- 
ing out my arms in the direction of the vessel, 
stood in this manner, motionless, and unable to 



articulate a syllable. Peters and Parker were 
equally affected, although in different ways. 
The former danced about the deck like a mad- 
man, uttering the most extravagant rhodomon- 
tades, intermingled with howls and impreca- 
lions, wh le the latter burst into tears, and 
continued for many minutes weeping like a 
child. 

The vessel in sight was a large hermaphro- 
dite brig, of a Dutch build, and painted biack, 
with a tawdry gilt figurehead. She had evi- 
dently seen a good deal of rough weather, and, 
we supposed, had suffered much in the gale 
which had proved so disastrous to ourselves; 
for her foretopmast was gone, and some of her 
starboard bulwaiks. When we first saw her, 
she was, as V have already said, about two 
miles off and to windward, bearing down upon 
us. The breeze was very gentle, and what 
astonished us chiefly was, that she had no 
other sails set than her foresail and mainsail, 
with a flying-jib ; of course she came down 
but slowly, and our impatience amounted 
nearly to "frensy. The awkward manner in, 
which she steered, too, was remarked by all of 
us, even excited as we were. She yawed 
about so considerably, that once or twice we 
thought it impossible she could see us, or 
imagined that, having seen us, and discovered 
no person on board, she was about to tack and 
make off in another direction. Upon each of 
these occasions we screamed and shouted at 
the top of our voices, when the stranger would 
appear to change for a moment her intention, 
and again hold on towards us; this singular 
conduct being repeated two or three times, so 
that at last we could think of no other manner 
of accounting for it than by supposing the 
helmsman to be in liquor. 

No person was seen upon her decks until she 
arrived within about a quarter of a mile of us. 
We then saw three seamen, whom by their 
dress we took to be Hollanders. Two of these 
were lying on some old sails near the forecastle, 
and the third, who appeared to be looking at 
us with great curiosity, was leaning over the 
starboard bow near the bowsprit. This last 
was a stout and tall man, with a very dark skin. 
He seemed by his manner to be encouraging us 
to have patience, nodding to us in a cheerful 
although rather odd way, and smiling con- 
stantly so as to display a set of the most 
brilliantly white teeth. As his vessel drew 
nearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he had 
on fall from his head into the water; but of 
this he took little or no notice, continuing his 
odd smiles and gesticulations. J relate these 
things and circumstances minutely, and 1 re- 
late them, it must be understood, precisely as 
they appeared to us. 

The brig came on slowly, and now more 
steadily than before, an —I cannot speak 
calmly of th event — our hearts tea ed up 
wildly within us, and we poured out our whole 
souls in shouts and thanksgiving to God for the 
complete, unexpected, and glorious deliverance 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



36 

that was so palpably at hand. Of a sudden, 
and all at once, there came wafted over the 
ocean frum the strange vessel (which was now 
close upon us) a smell, a stench, such as the 
whole world has no name for — no conception 
of —hellish— utterly suffocating —insufferable, 
inconceivable. I gasped for breath, and turn- 
ing to my companions, perceived that they were 
paler than marble. We had now no time left for 
question or surmise ; the brig was within fifty 
feet of us, and it seemed to be her intention to 
run under our counter, that we might board 
her without her putting out a boat. We rushed 
aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her off 
full five or six points from the course she had 
been running, and as she passed under our 
stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we 
had a full view of her decks. Shall I ever 
forget the triple horror of that spectacle ? 
Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among 
whom were several females, lay scattered about 
between the counter and the galley, in the last 
and most loathsome state of putrefaction ! 
We plainly saw that not a soul lived in that 
fated vessel. Yet we could not help shouting 
to the dead for help ! Yes, long and loudly 
did we beg, in the agony of the moment, that 
those silent and disgusting images would stay 
for us, would not abandon us to become like 
them, would receive us among their goodly 
company ! We were raving with horror and 
despair— thoroughly mad through the anguish 
of our grievous disappointment. 

As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it, 
was replied to by something from near the bow- 
sprit of the stranger so closely resembling the 
scream of a human voice that the nicest ear 
might have been startled and deceived. At 
this instant another sudden yaw brought the 
legion of the forecastle for a moment into 
view, and we beheld at once the origin of the 
sound. We saw the tall stout figure still lean- 
ing on the bulwark, and still nodding his head 
to and fro, but his face was now turned from 
us so that we could not behold it. His arms 
were extended over the rail, and the palms of 
his hands fell outward. His knees were lodged 
upon a stout rope, tightly stretched, and reach- 
ing from the heel of the bowsprit to a cathead. 
On his back, from which a portion of the shirt 
had been torn, leaving it bare, there sat a huge 
seagull, busily gorging itself with the horrible 
flesh, its bill and talons deeply buried, and its 
white plumage spattered all over with blood. 
As the brig moved further round so as to bring 
us close in view, the bird, with much apparent 
difficulty, drew out its crimsoned head, and 
after eyeing us for a moment as if stupified, 
arose lazily from the body upon which it had 
been feasting, and flying directly above our 
deck, hovered there a while with a portion 01 
clotted and liver-like substance in its beak. 
The horrid morsel dropped at length with a 
sullen splash immediately at the feet of Parker. 
May God forgive me ! but now, for the fiisi 
time, there flashed through my mind a thought, 



a thought which I will not mention, and I fel 
myself making a step towards the ensanguined 
spot. I looked upward, and the eyes of 
Augustus met my own with a degree of intense 
and eager meaning which immediately brought 
me to my senses I sprang forward quickly, 
and, with a deep shudder, threw the frightful 
thing into the sea. 

The body from which it had been taken, 
resting as it did upon the rope, had been easily 
swayed to and fro by the exertions of the car- 
nivorous bird, and it was this motion which 
had at first impressed us with the belief of its 
being alive. As the gull relieved it of its 
weight, it swung round and fell partially over, 
so that the face was fully discovered. Never 
surely was any object so terribly full of awe I 
The eyes were gone, and the whole flesh around 
the mouth, leaving the teeth utterly naked. 
This, then, was the smiie which had cheered us 
on to hope ! this the— but I forbear. The brig, 
as I have already told, passed under our stern, 
and made its way slowly but steadily to lee- 
ward. With her and with her terrible crew 
went all our gay visions of deliverance and joy. 
Deliberately as she went by, we might possibly 
have found means of boarding her, had not our 
sudden disappointment, and the appalling 
nature of the discovery which accompanied it, 
laid entirely prostrate every active faculty of 
mind and body. We had seen and felt, but we 
could neither think nor act, until, alas! too 
late. How much our intellects had been 
weakened by this incident may be estimated 
by the fact, that when the vessel had proceeded 
so far that we could perceive no more than the 
half of her hull, the proposition was seriously 
entertained of attempting to overtake her by 
swimming ! 

I have, since this period, vainly endeavoured 
to obtain some clue to the hideous uncertainty 
which enveloped the fate of the stranger. Her 
build and general appearance, as I have before 
stated, led us to the belief that she was a 
Dutch trader, and the dresses of the crew also 
sustained this opinion. We might have easily 
seen the name on her stern, and, indeed, taken 
other observations, which would have guided 
us in making out her character, but the intense 
excitement of tne moment blinded us to every 
thing of that nature. From the saffron-like 
hue of such of the corpses as were not entirely 
decayed, we concluded that the whole of her 
company had perished by the yellow fever, or 
some other virulent disease of the same fearful 
kind. If such were the case— and 1 know not 
what eUe to imagine— death, to judge from the 
positions of the bodies, must have come upon 
ihem in a manner awfully sudden and over- 
whelming, in a way totally distinct from that 
which generally characterises even the most 
deadly pestilences with which mankind are ac- 
quainted. It is possible, indeed, that poison, 
iccidentally introduced into some of their sea- 
stores, might have brought about the disaster ; 
or that the eating .some unknown venomous 



ADVENTURES OF 

species of fish, or other marine animal or 
oceanic bird, might have induced it -but it is 
utterly useless to form conjectures where all is 
involved, and will, no doubt, remain for ever 
involved, in the most appalling and unfathomable 
mystery. 



CHAPTER XI. 



We spent the remainder of the day in a con- 
dition of stupid lethargy, gazing after the re- 
treating vessel until the darkness, hiding her 
from our sight, recalled us, in some measure, to 
our senses. The pangs of hunger and thirst 
then returned, absorbing all other cares and 
considerations. Nothing, however, could be 
done until the morning, and, securing ourselves 
as well as possible, we endeavoured to snatch a 
little repose. In this I succeeded beyond my 
expectation, sleeping until my companions, 
who had not been so fortunate, aroused me at 
daybreak to renew our attempts at getting up 
provision from the hull. 

It was now a dead calm, with the sea as 
smooth as I have ever known it — the weather 
warm and pleasant. The brig was out of sight. 
We commenced our operations by wrenching 
off, with some trouble, another of the fore- 
chains ; and having fastened both to Peters's 
feet, he again made an endeavour to reach the 
door of the store-room, thinking it possible 
that he might be able to force it open, provided 
he could get at it in sufficient time ; and this 
he hoped to do, as the hulk lay much more 
steadily than before. 

He succeeded very quickly in reaching the 
door, when, loosening one of the chains from 
his ancle, he made every exertion to force a 
passage with it, but in vain, the framework of 
the room being far stronger than was anticipated. 
He was quite exhausted with his long stay 
under water, and it became absolutely neces- 
sary that some other one of us should take his 
place. For this service Parker immediately 
volunteered ; but, after making three ineffectual 
efforts, found that he could never even suc- 
ceed in getting near the door. The condition 
of Augustus's wounded arm rendered it useless 
for him to attempt going down, as he would be 
unable to force the room open should he reach 
it, and it accordingly now devolved upon me to 
exert myself for common deliverance. 

Peters had left one of the chains in the pas- 
sage, and I found, upon plunging in, that I had 
not sufficient ballast to keep me fiimly down. 
I determined, therefore, to attempt no more, in 
my first effort, than merely to recover the other 
chain. In groping along the floor of the pas- 
sage for this I felt a hard substance, which 1 
immediately grasped, not having time to ascer- 
tain what it was, but returning and ascending 
instantly to the surface. The prize proved to 



ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 37 

be a bottle, and our joy may be conceived when 
I say that it was found to be full of Port wine. 
Giving thanks to God for this timely and cheer- 
ing assistance, we immediately drew the cork 
with my penknife, and each taking a moderate 
sup, felt the most indescribable comfort from 
ttie warmth, strength, and spirits with which it 
inspired us. We then carefully recorked the 
bottle, and, by means of a handkerchief, swung 
it in such a manner that there was no possi- 
bility of its getting broken. 

Having rested awhile after this fortunate dis- 
covery, I again descended, and now recovered 
the chain, with which I instantly came up. I 
then fastened it on and went down for the third 
time, when I became fully satisfied that no ex- 
ertions whatever, in that situation, would en- 
able me to force open the door of the store- 
room. I therefore returned in despair. 

There seemed now to be no longer any room 
for hope, and I could perceive in the counte- 
nances of my companions, that they had made 
up their minds to perish. The wind had evi- 
dently produced in them a species of delirium, 
which, perhaps, I had been prevented from 
feeling by the immersion I had undergone since 
drinking it. They talked incoherently, and 
about matters unconnected with our condition ; 
Peters repeatedly asked me questions about 
Nantucket. Augustus, too, I remember, ap- 
proached me with a serious air, and requested 
me to lend him a pocket-comb, as his hair was 
full of fish-scales, and he wished to get them 
out before going on shore. Parker appeared 
somewhat less affected, and urged me to dive at 
random into the cabin, and bring up any article 
which might come to hand. To this I con- 
sented, and in the first attempt, after staying 
under a full minute, brought up a small leather 
trunk belonging to Captain Barnard. This 
was immediately opened in the faint hope that 
it might contain something to eat or drink. 
We found nothing, however, except a box of 
razors and two linen shirts. I now went down 
again, and returned without success. As my 
head came above water I heard a crash on 
deck, and upon getting up, saw that my com- 
panions had ungratefully taken advantage of 
my absence to drink the remainder of the wine, 
having let the bottle fall in the endeavour to 
replace it before I saw them. I remonstrated 
with them on the heartlessness of their con- 
duct, when Augustus burst into tears. The 
other two endeavoured to laugh the matter of£ 
as a joke, but I hope never again to behold 
laughter of such a species: the distortion of 
countenance was absolutely frightful. Indeed, 
it was apparent that the stimulus, in the empty 
state of their stomachs, had taken instant and 
violent, effect, and that they were all exceed- 
ingly intoxicated. With great difficulty 1 pre- 
vailed upon them to lie down, when they fell 
very soon into a heavy slumber, accompanied 
with loud stertorous breathing. 

I now found myself, as it were, alone in the 
brig, and my reflections, to be sure,, were K 



38 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER, 



the most fearful and gloomy nature. No pros- 
pect offered itself to my view but a lingering 
death by famine, or, at the best, by being over- 
whelmed in the first gale which should spring 
up, for in our present exhausted condition we 
could have no hope of living through another. 

The gnawing hunger which I now experi- 
enced was nearly insupportable, and I felt my- 
self capable of going to any lengths in order to 
appease it. With my knife I cut off a portion 
of the leather trunk, and endeavoured ;o eat it, 
"but found it utterly impossible to swallow a 
single morsel, although I fancied that some 
little alleviation of my suffering was obtained 
by chewing small pieces of it and spitting them 
out. Towards night my companions awoke, 
one by one, each in an indescribable state of 
weakness and horror, brought on by the wi.e, 
whose fumes had now evaporated. They shook 
as if with a violent ague, and uttered the most 
lamentable cries for water. Their condition 
affected me in the most lively degree, at the 
same time causiug me to rejoice in the fortu- 
nate train of circum-tanees, which had pre- 
vented me from indulging in the wine, and 
consequently from sharing their melancholy 
and most distressing sensations. Their eon- 
duct, however, gave me great uneasiness and 
alarm ; for it was evident that, unless some 
favourable change took place, they could affoid 
me no assistance in providing for our common 
safety. I had not yet abandoned all idea of 
being able to get up something from below; 
but the attempt could not possibly be resumed 
until some one of them was sufficiently master 
of himself to aid me by holding the end of the 
xope while 1 went down. Parker appeared to 
be somewhat more in possession of his senses 
than the others, and 1 endeavoured, by every 
means in my power, to arouse him. Thinking 
that a plunge in the sea-water might have a 
beneficial enect, 1 contrived to fasten the end 
of a rope round his body, and then, leading him 
to the companion-way (he remained quite pas- 
sive all the while), pushed him in, and imme- 
diately drew him out. 1 had good reason to 
congratulate myself upon having made this ex- 
periment; for he appeared much revived and 
invigorated, and upon getting out, asked me, in 
a rational manner, why 1 had so served him. 
Having explained my object, he expressed him- 
self indebted to me, and said that he felt 
greatly better upon the immersion, afterward 
conversing sensibly upon our situation. We 
then resolved to treat Augustus and Peters in 
the same way, which we immediately did, 
when tney both experienced much benefit from 
the shock. The idea of sudden immersion had 
been suggested to me by reading in some me- 
dical work the good effect of the shower-bath 
in a case where the patient was suffering irom 
mania a polu. 

Finding that I could now trust my com- 
panions to hold the end of the rope, I again 
made three or four plunges into ihe cabin, al- 
though it was now quite dark, and a gentle but 



long swell from the northward rendered the 
hulk somewhat unsteady. In the course of 
these attempts I succeeded in bringing up two 
case-knives, a three-gallon jug, empty, and a 
blanket, but nothing which could serve us for 
food. I continued my efforts, after getting 
these articles, until I was completed ex- 
hausted, but brought up nothing else. During 
the night Parker and Peters occupied them- 
selves by turns in the same manner ; but no- 
thing coming to hand, \\ e now gave up this at- 
tempt in despair, concluding that we were 
exhausting ourselves in vain. 

We passed the remainder of this night in a 
state of the most intense mental and bodily 
anguish that can possibly be imagined. Ihe 
morning of the sixteenth at length dawned, 
and we looked eagerly around the horizon lor 
relief, but to no purpose. The sea was still 
smooth, with only a long swell from the north- 
ward, as on yesterday. This was the sixth 
day since we had tasted either food or drink, 
with the exception of the bottle of Port wine, 
and it was clear that we could hold out but a 
very little while longer unless something could 
be obtained. I never saw before, nor wish to 
see again, human being* so utterly emaciated 
as Peters and Augustus. Had 1 met them on 
shore in their present condition I should not 
have had the slightest suspicion that 1 had 
ever beheld them. Their countenances were 
totally changed in character, so that 1 could 
not bring myself to believe them really the 
same individuals with whom 1 had been in 
company but a few days before. Parker, al- 
though sadly reduced, and so feeble that he 
could not raise his head from his bosom, was 
not so far gone as the other two. He suffered 
with great patience, making no complaint, and 
endeavouring to inspire us with hope in every 
manner he could devise. For myself, although, 
at the commencement of the voyage 1 had 
been in bad health, and was at all times of a 
delicate constitution, I suffered less than any of 
us, being much less reduced in frame, and re- 
taining my poweis of mind in a surprising de- 
gree, while the re^ were completely pros- 
trated in intellect, and seemed to be brought to 
a species of second childhood, generally sim- 
pering in their expressions, with idiotic smiles, 
and uttering the most absurd platitudes. At 
intervals, however, they would appear to re- 
vive suddenly, as if inspired all at once with a 
consciousness of their condition, when they 
would spring upon their feet in a momentary 
flash of vigour, and speak, for a short period, 
of their prospects, in a manner altogether 
rational, although full of the most intense 
despair. It is possible, however, that my com- 
panions may have entertained the same opinion 
of their own condition as 1 did of mine, and 
that I may have unwittingly been guilty of the 
same extravagance and imbecility as i hem- 
selves : this is a matter which cannot be de- 
termined. 

About noon Parker declared that he saw 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



39 



land off the larboard quarter, and it was with 
the utmost difficulty I could restrain him from 
plunging into the sea with the view of swim- 
ming towards it. Peters and Augustus took 
little notice of what he said, being apparently 
Wrapped up in moody contemplation. Upon 
looking in the direction pointed out 1 could not 
perceive the faintest appearance of the shore — 
indeed, I was too well aware that we were far 
from any land to indulge in a hope of that na- 
ture. It was a long time, nevertheless, before 
I could convince Parker of his mistake. He 
then burst into a flood of tears, weeping like a 
child, with loud cries and sobs, for two or three 
hours, when, becoming exhausted, he fell 
asleep. 

Peters and Augustus now made several inef- 
fectual efforts to swallow portions of the leather. 
I advised them to chew it and spit it out ; but 
they were too excessively debilitated to be 
able to follow my advice. I continued to chew 
pieces of it at intervals, and found some relief 
from so doing; my chief distress was for 
water, and I was only prevented from taking a 
draught fom the sea by remembering the hor- 
rible consequences which thus have resulted 
to others who were similarly situated with 
ourselves. 

The day wore on in this manner, when I 
suddenly discovered a sail to the eastward, and 
on our larboard bow. She appeared to be a 
large ship, and was coming nearly athwart us, 
being probably twelve or fifteen miles distant. 
None of my companions had as yet discovered 
her, and I forbore to tell them of her for the 
present, lest we might again be disappointed of 
any relief. At length, upon her getting nearer, 
I saw distinctly that she was heading imme- 
diately for us, with her light sails filled. I 
could now contain myself no longer, and 
pointed her out to my fellow-sufferers. They 
immediately sprang to their feet, again in- 
dulging in the most extravagant demonstra- 
tions of joy, weeping, laughing in an idiotic 
manner, jumping, stamping upon the deck, 
tearing their hair, and praying and cursing by 
turns. 1 was so affected by their conduct, as 
well as by what I now considered a sure pros- 
pect of deliverance, that I could not refrain 
from joining in with their madness, and gave 
way to the impulses of my gratitude and ec- 
stacy by lying and rolling on the deck, clapping 
my hands, shouting, and other similar acts, un- 
til I was suddenly called to my recollection, 
and once more to the extreme of human 
misery and despair, by perceiving the ship all 
at once with her stern fully presented towards 
us, and steering in a direction nearly opposite 
to that in which I had at first perceived her. 

It was some time before I could induce my 
poor companions to believe that this sad reverse 
in our prospects had actually taken place. 
They replied to all my assertions with a stare 
and a gesture implying that they were not to 
be deceived by such misrepresentations. The 
conduct of Augustus most sensibly affected 



me. In spite of all I could say or do to the 
contrary, he persisted in saying that the ship 
was rapidly nearing us, and ifi making prepara- 
tions to go on board of her. Some sea-weed 
floating by the brig, he maintained that it was 
the ship's boat, and endeavoured to throw 
himself upon it, howling and shrieking in the 
most heartrending manner, when I forcibly 
restrained him from thus casting himself into 
the sea. 

Having become in some degree pacified, we 
continued to watch the ship until we finally 
lost sight of her, the weather becoming hazy, 
with a light breeze springing up. A^ soon as 
she was entirely gone, Parker turned suddenly 
towards me with an expression of countenance 
which made me shudder. There was about 
him an air of self-possession which I had not 
noticed in him until now, and before he opened 
his lips my heart told me what he would say. 
He proposed, in a few words, that one of us 
should die to preserve the existence of the 
others. 



CHAPTER XII. 

I had, for some time past, dwelt upon the 
prospect of our being reduced to this last hor- 
rible extremity, and had secretly made up my 
mind to suffer death in any shape or under any 
circumstances rather than resort to such a 
course. Nor was this resolution in any degree 
weakened by the present intensity of hunger 
under which I laboured. The proposition had 
not been heard by either Peters or Augustus. 
I therefore took Parker aside ; and mentally 
praying to God for power to dissuade him from 
the horrible purpose he entertained, I ex- 
postulated with him for a long time and in the 
most supplicating manner, begging him in the 
name of every thing which he held sacred, and 
u. ging him by every species of argument which 
the extremity of the case suggested, to abandon 
the idea, and promise not to mention it to 
either of the other two. 

' He heard all I said without attempting to 
'controvert any of my arguments, and I had 
begun to hope that he would be prevailed upon 
to do as I desired. But when 1 had ceased 
speaking, he said that he knew very well all I 
had said was true, and that to resort to such a 
course was the most horrible alternative which 
could enter into the mind of man ; but that he 
had now held out as long as human nature 
could be- sustained ; that it was unnecessary 
for all to p'erish, when, by the death of one, it 
was possible, and even probable, that the rest 
might be finally preserved ; adding that I misrht 
save myself the trouble of trying to turn h.'m 
from his purpose, his mind having be > H 
thoroughly made Up on the subject even before 
,the appearance of the ship, and tnat only her 



40 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



heaving in sight had prevented him from men- 
tioning his intention at an early period. 

I now begged him, if he would not be pre- 
vailed upon to abandon his design, at least to 
defer it for another day, when some vessel 
might come to our relief; again reiterating 
every argument I could devise, and which I 
thought likely to have influence with one of his 
rough nature. He said, in reply, that he had 
not spoken until the very last possible moment; 
that he could exist no longer without suste- 
nance of some kind; and that therefore in 
another day his suggestions would be too late, 
as regarded himself at least. 

Finding that he was not to be moved by 
any thing I could say in a mild tone, I now 
assumed a different demeanour, and told him 
that he must be aware I had suffered less than 
any of us from our calamities ; that my health 
and strength, consequently, were at that mo- 
ment far better than his own, or than that either 
of Peters or Augustus ; in short, that I was in 
a condition to have my own way by force if I 
found it necessary : and that, if he attempted 
in any manner to acquaint the others with 
his bloody and cannibal designs, I would 
not hesitate to throw him into the sea. Upon 
this he immediately seized me by the throat, 
and drawing a knife, made several ineffectual 
efforts to stab me in the stomach ; an atrocity 
which his excessive debility alone prevented 
him from accomplishing. In the mean time, 
being roused to a high pitch of anger, I forced 
him to the vessel's side, with the full intention 
of throwing him overboard. He was saved 
from this fate, however, by the interference of 
Peters, who now approached and separated us, 
asking the cause of the disturbance. This 
Parker told before I could find means in any 
manner to prevent him. 

The effect of his words was even more terri- 
ble than what I had anticipated. Both Au- 
gustus and Peters, who, it seems, had long 
secretly entertained the same fearful idea which 
Parker had been merely the first to broach, 
joined with him in his design, and insisted upon 
its being immediately carried into effect. 1 
had calculated that one at least of the two for- 
mer would be found still possessed of sufficient 
strength of mind to side with myself in resist- 
ing any attempt to execute so dreadful a 
purpose; and, with the aid of either one of 
them, I had no fear of being able to prevent its 
accomplishment. Being disappointed in this 
expectation, it became absolutely necessary 
that I should attend to my own safety, as a 
further resistance on my part might possibly be 
considered by men in their frightful condition 
a sufficient excuse for refusing me fair play 
in the tragedy that I knew would speedily be 
enacted. 

I now told them I was willing to submit to 
the proposal, merely requesting a delay of 
about one hour, in order that the fog which 
had gathered around us might have an oppor- 
tunity of lifting, when it was possible that the 



ship we had seen might be again in sight. Af- 
ter great difficulty I obtained from them a 
promise to wait thus long ; and, as I had anti- 
cipated (a breeze rapidly coming in), the fog 
lifted before the hour had expired, when, no 
vessel appearing in sight, we prepared to draw 
lots. 

It is with extreme reluctance that I dwell 
upon the appalling scene which ensued ; a 
scene which, with its minutest details, no after 
events have been able to efface in the slightest 
degree from my memory, and whose stern re- 
collection will imbitter every future moment of 
my existence. Let me run over this portion of 
my narrative with as much haste as the nature 
of the events to be spoken of will permit. The 
only method we could devise for the terrific 
lottery, in which we were to take each a 
chance, was that of drawing straws. Small 
splinters of wood were made to answer our 
purpose, and it was agreed that I should be the 
holder. I retired to one end of the bulk, while 
my poor companions silently took up their sta- 
tion in the other with their backs turned to- 
wards me. The bitterest anxiety which I 
endured at any period of this fearful drama, 
was while I occupied myself in the arrange- 
ment of the lots. There are few conditions 
into which man can possibly fall where he will 
not feel a deep interest in the preservation of 
his existence ; an interest momentarily increas- 
ing with the frailness of the tenure by which 
that existence may be held. But now that the 
silent, definite, and stern nature of the business 
in which I was engaged (so different from the 
tumultuous dangers ot the storm or the gra- 
dually approaching horrors of famine) allowed 
me to reflect on the few chances I had of es- 
caping the most appalling of deaths — a death 
for the most appalling of purposes— every par- 
ticle of that energy which had so long buoyed 
me up departed like feathers before the wind, 
leaving me a helpless prey to the most abject 
and pitiable terror. I could not, at first, even 
summon up sufficient strength to tear and fit 
together the small splinters of wood, my fingers 
absolutely refusing their office, and my knees 
knocking violently against each other. My 
mind ran over rapidly a thousand absurd pro- 
jects by which to avoid becoming a partner in 
the awful speculation. I thought of falling on 
my knees to my companions, and entreating 
them to let me escape this necessity ; of sud- 
denly rushing upon them, and, by putting one 
of them to death, of rendering the decision by 
lot useless — in short, of every thing but of 
going through with the matter I had in hand. 
At last, after wasting a long time in this im- 
becile conduct, I was recalled to my senses by 
the voice of Parker, who urged me to relieve 
them at once from the terrible anxiety they 
were enduring. Even then 1 could not bring 
myself to arrange the splinters upon the spot, 

I but thought over every species of finesse by 
which I could trick some one of my fellow- 
sufferers to draw the short straw ; as it had 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



41 



been agreed that whoever drew the shortest of 
four splinters from my hand was to die for the 
preservation of the rest. Before any one con- 
demn me for this apparent heartlessness, let 
him be placed in a situation precisely similar to 
my own. 

At length delay was no longer possible, and, 
with a heart almost bursting from my bosom, I 
advanced to the region of the forecastle, where 
my companions were awaiting me. I held out 
my hand with the splinters, and Peters imme- 
diately drew. He was free— his, at least, was 
not the shortest; and there was now another 
chance against my escape. I summoned up 
all my strength, and passed the lots to Augus- 
tus. He also drew immediately, and he also 
was free ; and now, whether I should live or 
die, the chances were no more than precisely 
even. At this moment all the fierceness of the 
tiger possessed my bosom, and 1 felt towards 
my poor fellow- creature, Parker, the most in- 
tense, the most diabolical hatred. But the 
feeling did not last ; and at length, with a con- 
vulsive shudder and closed eyes, I held out the 
two remaining splinters towards him. It was 
full five minutes before he could summon reso- 
lution to draw, during which period of heart- 
rending suspense I never once opened my eyes. 
Presently one of the two lots was quickly 
drawn from my hand. The decision was then 
over, yet I knew not whether it was for me or 
against me. No one spoke, and still I dared 
not satisfy myself by looking at the splinter 1 
held. Peters at length took me by the hand, 
and I forced myself to look up, when I imme- 
diately saw by the countenance of Parker that 
I was safe, and that he it was who had been 
doomed to suffer. Gasping for breath, I fell 
senseless to the deck. 

I recovered from my swoon in time to behold 
the consummation of the tragedy in the death 
of him who had been chiefly instrumental in. 
bringing it about. He made no resistance 
whatever, and was stabbed in the back by 
Peters, when he fell instantly dead. I must 
not dwell upon the fearful repast which imme- 
diately ensued. Such things maybe imagined, 
but words have no power to impress the mind 
with the exquisite horror of their reality. Let 
it suffice to say that, having in some measure 
appeased the raging thirst which consumed us 
by the blood of the victim, and having by 
common consent taken off the hands, feet, and 
head, throwing them, together with the entrails, 
into the sea, we devoured the rest of the body 
piecemeal, during the four ever memorable days 
of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and 
twentieth of the month. 

On the nineteenth, there coming on a smart 
shower which lasted fifteen or twenty minutes, 
we contrived to catch some water by means of 
a sheet which had been fished up from the 
cabin by our drag just after the gale. The 
quantity we took in all did not amount to more 
than half a gallon ; but even this scanty allow- 



ance supplied us with, comparative strength and 
hope. 

On the twenty -first we were again reduced to 
the last necessity. The weather still remained 
warm and pleasant, with occasional fogs and 
light breezes, most usually from N. to W. 

On the twenty-second, as we were sitting 
close huddled together, gloomily revolving over 
our lamentable condition, there flashed through 
my mind all at once an idea which inspired me 
with a bright gleam of hope. I remembered 
that, when the foremast had been cut away, 
Peters, being in the windward chains, passed 
one of the axes into my hand, requesting me to 
put it, if possible, in a place of security, and 
that a few minutes before the last heavy sea 
struck the brig and filled her, I had taken this 
axe into the forecastle, and laid it in one of the 
larboard berths. 1 now thought it possible that, 
by getting at this axe, we might cut through the 
decK over the storeroom, and thus readily sup- 
ply ourselves with provisions. 

When I communicated this project to my 
companions, they uttered a feeble shout of joy, 
and we all proceeded forthwith to the forecastle. 
The difficulty of descending here was greater 
than that of going down in the cabin, the open- 
ing being much smaller, for it will be remem- 
bered that the whole framework about the- 
cabin compauion-hatch had been carried away, 
whereas the forecastle-way, being a simple 
hatch of only about three feet square, had re- 
mained uninjured. I did not hesitate, however, 
to attempt the descent; and, a rope being 
fastened round my body as before, I ponged 
boldly in, feet foremost, made my way quickly 
to the berth, and at the very first attempt brought 
up the axe. It was hailed with the most ec- 
static joy and triumph, and the ease with which 
it had been obtained was regarded as an omen 
of our ultimate preservation. 

We now commenced cutting at the deck with, 
all the energy of rekindled hope, Peters and 
myself taking the axe by turns, Augustus's 
wounded arm not. permitting him to aid us in 
any degree. As we were still so feeble as to 
be scarcely able to stand unsupported, and 
could consequently woik but a minute or two 
without resting, it soon became evident that 
many long hours would be requisite to accom- 
plish our task— that is, to cut an opening suffi- 
ciently large to admit of a free access to the 
storeroom. This consideration, however, did 
not discourage us; and, working all night by 
the light of the moon, we succeeded in effecting 
our purpose by daybreak on the morning of the 
twenty-third. 

Peters now volunteered to go down ; and 
having made all arrangements as before, he de- 
scended, and soon returned, bringing up with, 
him a small jar, which, to our great joy, proved 
to be full of olives. Having shared these among 
us, and devoured them with the greatest avidity, 
we proceeded to let him down again. This 
time he succeeded beyond our utmost expec- 



42 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER 



tatioiip, returning instantly with a large ham 
and a bo" tie of Madeira wine. Of the latter 
we each looka moderate sup, having learned 
by experience the pernicious consequences of 
indulging too freely. The ham, except about 
two pounds near the bone, was not in a con- 
dition to be eaten, having been entirely spoiled 
by the salt water. The sound part was divided 
among us. Peters and Augustus, not being able 
to restrain their appetite, swallowed theirs upon 
the instant; but I was more cautious, and ate 
but a small portion of mine, dreading the thirst 
which I knew would ensue. We now rested 
a.while from our labours, which had been into- 
lerably severe. 

By noon, feeling somewhat strengthened and 
refreshed, we again renewed our -attempt at 
getting up provisions, Peters and myself going 
down alternately, and always with more or less 
success, until sundown. During this interval 
we had the good fortune to bring up altogether 
four more small jars of olives, another ham, a 
carboy containing nearly three gallons of ex- 
cellent Cape Madeira wine, aud, what gave us 
still more delight, a small tortoise of the Galli- 
pago breed, several of which had been taken 
on board by Captain Barnard, as the Grampus 
was leaving port, from the schooner Mary Puts, 
just returned from a sealing voyage in the 
Pacific. 

In a subsequent portion of this narrative I 
shall have frequent occasion to mention this 
species of tortoise. It is found principally, as 
most of my readers may know, in the group of 
islands called the Gallipagos, which, indeed, 
derive their name from the animal — the Spanish 
word Gallipago meaning a fresh water terapin. 
From the peculiarity of their shape and action, 
they have been sometimes called the elephant 
tortoise. They are frequently fimnd of an 
enormous size. I have myself seen some which 
would weigh from twelve to fifteen hundred 
pounds, although I do not remember that any 
navigator speaks of having seen them weighing 
more than eight hundred. Their appearance 
is singular, aud even disgusting. Their steps 
are very slow, measured, and heavy, their bodies 
being carried about a foot from the ground. 
Their neck is long, and exceedingly slender ; 
from eighteen inches to two feet is a very com- 
mon length ; and L killed one, where the dis- 
tance from the shoulder to the extremity of the 
head was no less than three feet ten inches. 
The head has a striking resemblance to that of 
a serpent. They can exist without food for an 
incredible length of time, instances having been 
known where they have been thrown into the 
hold of a vessel and lain two years without 
nourishment of any kind— being as fat, and, in 
every respect, in as good order at the expiration 
of the time as when they were first put in. In 
one particular these extraordinary animals bear 
a resemblance to the dromedary or camel of the 
desert. In a bag at the root of the neck they 
carry with them .% constant supply of water. In 
gome instances, upon killing them after a full 



year's deprivation of all nourishment, as much. 
as three gallons of perfectly sweet and fresh 
water have been found in their bass. Their 
food is chiefly wild parsley and celery, with 
puislain, sea-kelp, and prickly pears, upon 
which latter vegetable they thrive wondei fully, 
a great quantity of it being usually found on the 
hill-sides near the shore wherever the animal 
itself is discovered. They are excellent and 
highly nutritious food, and have, no doubt, been 
the means of preserviug the lives of thousands of \ 
seamen employed in the whale fishery and other 
pursuits in the Pacific. 

The one which we had the good fortune to 
bring up from the storeroom was not of a large 
size, weighing probably sixty-five or seventy 
pounds. It was a female, and in excellent 
condition, being exceedingly fat, and having 
more than a quart of limpid and sweet water 
in its bag. This was indeed a treasure; and, 
falling on our knees with one accord, we re- 
turned fervent thanks to God for so seasonable 
a relief. 

We had great difficulty in getting the animal 
up through the opening, as its struggles were 
fierce and its strength prodigious. It was upon 
the point of making its escape from Peters' grasp, 
and slipping back into the water, when Augustus 
throwing a rope with a slip-knot round his 
throat, held it up in this manner until I jumped 
into the hole by the side of Peters, and assisted 
him in lifting it out. 

The water we drew carefully from the bag 
into the jug, which it will be remembered had 
been brought up before from the cabin. Having 
done this, we broke off the neck of a bottle so as 
to form, with the cork, a kind of glass, holding 
not quite half a gill. We then each drank one 
of these measures full, and resolved to limit 
ourselves to this quantity per day as long as it 
should hold out. 

During the last two or three days, the wea- 
ther having been dry and pleasant, the bedding 
we had obtained from the cabin, as well as our 
clothing, had become thoroughly dry, so that 
we passed this night (that of the twenty-third) 
in comparative comfoit, enjoying a tranquil re- 
pose, after having supped plentifully on olives 
and ham, with a small allowance of the wine. 
Being afraid of losing some of our stores over- 
board during the night, in the event of a breeze 
springing- up, we secured them as well as pos- 
sible with cordage to the fragments of the wind- 
lass. Our tortoise, which we were anxhms to 
preserve alive as long as we could, we threw , 
on his back, and otherwise carefully fastened. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



July 24.— This morning saw us wonderfully 
recruited in spirits and strength. Notwith- 
standing the perilous situation in which we were 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



43 



still placed, ignorant of our position, although 
certainly at a great distance from land, without, 
more food than would last us for a fortnight 
even with great care, almost entirely without 
•water, and floating about at the mercy of every 
wind and wave, on the merest wreck in the 
■world, still the infinitely more terrible distresses 
and dangers from which we had so lately and 
so providentially been d.livered, caused us to 
regard what we now endured as but little more 
than an ordinary evil — so strictly comparative 
is either good or ill. 

At sunrise we were preparing to renew our 
attempts at getting up something from the 
storeroom, when a smart shower coming on, 
with some lightning, we turned our attention to 
the catching of water by means of the sheet we 
had used before for this purpose. We had no 
other means of collecting the rain than by hold- 
ing the sheet spread out, with one of the fore- 
chain-plates in the middle of it. The water, 
thus conducted to the centre, was drained 
through into our jug. We had nearly filled it in 
this manner, when a iieavy squall coming on 
from the northward obli ed us to desist, as the 
IiuIk. began once more to roll so violently that 
we could no longer keep our feet. We now 
went forward, and lashing ourselves securely to 
the remnant of the windlass as before, awaited 
the event with far more calmness than could 
have been anticipated or would have been 
imagined possible under the circumstances. At 
noon the wind had freshened into a two-reef 
breeze, and bv night into a stiff gale, accom- 
panied with a tremendously heavy swell. Ex- 
perience having taught us, how^ ver, the best 
method of arranging our lashings, we weathered 
this dreary night in tolerahle security, although 
thoroughly drenched at almost every instant by 
the sea, and in momentary dread of being 
washed off. Fortunately the weather was so 
warm as to render the water rather grateful 
than otherwise. 

July 25. — This morning the gale had dimi- 
nished to a mere ten knot breeze, and the sea 
had gone down with it so considerably that we 
were able to keep ourselves dry upon the deck. 
To our great irief, however, we found that two 
jars of our olives, as well as the whole of our 
ham, had been washed ovprboard, in spite 
of the careful manner in which they had been 
fastened. We determined not to kill the tor- 
toi>e as yet, and contented ourselves for the 
present with a breakfast on a few of the olives, 
and a measure of water each, which latter we 
mixed, half and half, with wine, finding great 
relief and strength from the mixture, without 
the distressing intoxication which had ensued 
upon drinking the Port. The sea was still too 
rough for the renewal of our efforts at getting 
up provision from the storeroom. Several 
articles, of no importance to us in our present 
situation, floated up through the opening during 
the day, and were immediately washed over- 
board. We also now observed that the hulk 
lay more along than ever, so that we could not 



stand an instant without lashing ourselves. On 
this account we passed a gloomy and uncom- 
fortable day. At noon the sun appeared to be 
nearly vertical, and we had no doubt that we 
had been driven down by the long succession 
of northward and nonh-wesierly winds into the 
near vicinity of the equator. Towards evening 
saw several sharks, and were so ne what alarmed 
by the audacious manner in w..ich an enor- 
mously large one approached us. At one time, a 
lurch throwing the deck very far beneath the 
water, the monster actually swam in upon us, 
floundering for some moments just over the 
companion-hatch, and striking Peters violently 
with his tail. A heavy sea at length hurled 
him overboard, much to our relief. In moderate 
weather we might easily have captured him. 

July 26. —This morning, the wind having 
greatly abated, and the sea not being very rough, 
we determined to renew our exertions in the 
storeroom. After a great deal of hard labour 
during the whole day, we f'»und that nothing 
further was to be expected from this quarter, 
the partitions of the room having been stove 
during the night, and its contents swept into the 
hold. This discovery, as may be supposed, filled 
us with despair. 

Jul/ 27. — The sea nearly smooth with a 
light wind, and still from the northward and 
westward. The sun coming out hot in the 
afternoon, we occupied ourselves in drying our 
clothes. Found great relief from thirst, and 
much comfort otherwise, by batning in the sea ; 
in this, however, we were forced to use great 
caution, being afraid of sharks, several of which 
were seen swimming around the brig during the 
day. 

July 28.— Good weather still. The brig now 
began to lie along so alarmingly that we feared 
she would eventually roll bottom up. Prepared 
ourselves as well as we could for this emer- 
gency, lashing our tortoise, water-jug, and two 
remaining jars of olives, as far as possible over 
to the windward, placing them outside the hull, 
below the main-chains The sea very smooth 
all day, with little or no wind. 

July 29 — A continuance of the same weather. 
Augustus's wounded arm began to evince symp- 
toms of mortification. He complained ot drow- 
siness and excessive thirst, but no acute pain. 
Nothing could be done for his relief beyond 
rubbing his wounds with a little of the vinegar 
from the olives, and from this no benelit seemed 
to be experienced. We did every thing in our 
power for his comfort, and trebled his allowance 
of water. 

July 30. — An excessive hot day, with no 
wind. An enormous shark kept close by the 
hulk during the whole of the forenoon. We 
made several unsuccessful attempts to capture 
him by means of a noose. Augustus much 
worse, and evidently sinking as much from 
■want of proper nourishment as from the effect 
of his wounds. He constantly prayed to be 
released from his sufferings, wishing for no- 
thing but death. This evening we ate the last 



44 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



of our olives, and found the water in our jug 
so putrid that we could not swallow it at all 
-without the addition of wine. Determined to 
kill our tortoise in the morning. 

July 31. — After a night of excessive anxiety 
and fatigue, owing to the position of the hulk, 
we set about killing and cutting up the tortoise. 
He proved to be much smaller than we had 
supposed, although in good condition — the 
•whole meat about him not amounting to more 
than ten pounds. With a view of preserving a 
portion of this as long as possible, we cut it 
into small pieces, and filled with them our three 
remaining olive-jars and the wine-bottle (all of 
which had been kept), pouring in afterward the 
vinegar from the olives. In this manner we 
put away about three pounds of the tortoise, 
intending not to touch it until we had consumed 
the rest. We concluded to restrict ourselves to 
about four ounces of the meat per day ; the 
whole would thus last us thirteen days. A 
briskshower, with severe thunder and lightning, 
came on about dusk, but lasted so short a time 
that we only succeeded in catching about half 
a pint of water. The whole of this, by common 
consent, was given to Augustus, who now ap- 
peared to be in the last extremity. He drank 
the water from the sheet as we caught it (we 
holding it above him as he lay, so as to let it 
run into his mouth), for we had now nothing 
left capable of holding water, unless we had 
chosen to empty out our wine from the carboy, 
or the stale water from the jug. Either of these 
expedients would have been resorted to had the 
shower lasted. 

The sufferer seemed to derive but little 
"benefit from the draught. His arm was com- 
pletely black from the wrist to the shoulder, 
and his feet were like ice. We expected every 
moment to see him breathe his last. He was 
frightfully emaciated ; so much so that, al- 
though he weighed a hundred and twenty-seven 
pounds upon his leaving Nantucket, he now did 
not weigh more than forty or fifty at the 
farthest. His eyes were sunk far in his head, 
being scarcely perceptible, arid the skin of his 
cheeks hung so loosely as to prevent his masti- 
cating any food, or even swallowing any liquid, 
without great difficulty. 

August 1. — A continuance of the same calm 
weather, with an oppressively hot sun. Suffered 
exceedingly from thirst, the water in the jug 
being absolutely putrid and swarming with ver- 
min. We contrived, nevertheless, to swallow 
a portion of it by mixing it with wine — our 
thirst, however, was but little abated. We 
found more relief by bathing in the sea, but 
could not avail ourselves of this expedient ex- 
cept at long intervals, on account of the con- 
tinual presence of sharks. We now saw clearly 
that Augustus could not be saved ; that he was 
evidently dying. We could do nothing to re- 
lieve his sufferings, which appeared to be great. 
About twelve o'clock he expired in strong con- 
vulsions, and without having spoken for several 
hours. His death filled us with the most gloomy 



forebodings, and had so great an effect upon ou * 
spirits that we sat motionless by the corpse dur- 
ing the whole day, and never addressed each 
other except in a whisper. It was not until 
some time after dark that we took courage to 
get up and throw the body overboard. It was 
then loathsome beyond expression, and so far 
decayed that, as Peters attempted to lift it, an 
entire leg came off in his grasp. As the mass 
of putrefaction slipped over the vessel's side into 
the water, the glare of phosphoric light with 
which it was surrounded plainly discovered to 
us seven or eight large sharks, the clashing of 
whose horrible teeth, as their prey was torn 
to pieces among them, might have been heard 
at the distance of a mile. We shrunk within 
ourselves in the extremity of horror at the sound. 

August 2.— -The same fearfully calm and hot 
weather. The dawn found us in a state of 
pitiable dejection as well as bodily exhaustion. 
The water in the jug was now absolutely use- 
less, be.ng a thick gelatinous mass ; nothing but 
frightful-looking worms mingled with slime. 
We threw it out, and washed the jug well in 
the sea, afterward pouring a little vinegar in it 
from our bottles of pickled tortoise. Our thirst 
could now scarcely be endured, and we tried in 
vain to relieve it by wine, which seemed only 
to add fuel to the flame, and excited us to a 
high degree of intoxication. We afterward 
endeavoured to relieve our sufferings by mixing 
the wine with sea water ; but this instantly 
brought about the most violent retching, so that 
we never again attempted it. During the whole 
day we anxiously sought an opportunity of 
bathing, but to no purpose ; for the hulk was 
now entirely besieged on all sides by sharks — 
no doubt the identical monsters who had de- 
voured our poor companion on the evening be- 
fore, and who were in momentary expectation 
of another similar feast. This circumstance 
occasioned us the most bitter regret, and filled us 
with the most depressing and melancholy fore- 
bodings. We had experienced indescribable 
relief in bathing, and to have this resource cut 
off in so frightful a manner was more than we 
could bear. Nor, indeed, were we altogether 
free from the apprehension of immediate dan- 
ger, for the least slip or false movement would 
have thrown us at once within reach of these 
voracious fish, who frequently thrust themselves 
directly upon us, swimming up to leeward. No 
shouts or exertions on our part seemed to alarm 
them. Even when one of the largest was struck 
with an axe by Peters, and much wounded, he 
persisted in his attempts to push in where we 
were. A cloud came up at dusk, but to our 
extreme anguish passed over without discharg- 
ing itself. It is quite impossible to conceive our 
sufferings from thirst at this period. We passed 
a sleepless night, both on this account and 
through the dread of the sharks. 

August 3.— No prospect of relief, and the 
brig lying still more and more along, so that 
now we could not maintain a footing on deck at 
all. Busied ourselves in securing our wine and 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



45 



tortoise-meat, so that we might not lose them 
in the event of our rolling over. Got out two 
stout spikes from the forechains, and, by means 
of the axe, drove them into the hull to windward 
within a couple of feet of the water ; this not 
being very far from the keel, as we were now 
nearly upon our beam-ends. To these spikes 
We then lashed our provisions, as being more 
secure than in their former position beneath the 
chains. Suffered great agony from thirst during 
the whole day — no chance of bathing on ac- 
count of the sharks, which never left us for a 
moment. Found it impossible to sleep. 

August 4. —A little before daybreak we per- 
ceived that the hulk was heeling over, and 
aroused ourselves to prevent being thrown off 
by the movement. At first the roll was slow 
and gradual, and we contrived to clamber over 
to windward very well, having taken the pre- 
caution to leave ropes hanging from the spikes 
we had driven in for the provision. But we 
had not calculated sufficiently upon the accele- 
ration of the impetus ; for presently the heel 
became too violent to allow of our keeping 
pace with it ; and before either of us knew 
what was to happen, we found ourselves hurled 
furiously into the sea, and struggling several 
fathoms beneath the surface, with the huge hull 
immediately above us. 

In going under the water I had been obliged 
to let go my hold upon the rope ; and finding that 
I was completely beneath the vessel, and my 
strength utterly exhausted, I scarcely made a 
struggle for life, and resigned myself, in a few 
seconds, to die. But here again I was de- 
ceived, not having taken into consideration the 
natural rebound of the hull to windward. The 
whirl of the water upward, which the vessel 
occasioned in rolling partially back, brought me 
to the surface still more violently than 1 had 
been plunged beneath. Upon coming up I 
found myself about twenty yards from the 
hulk, as near as 1 could judge. She was lying 
keel up, rocking furiously from side to side, 
and the sea in all directions around was much 
agitated, and full of strong whirlpools. I could 
see nothing of Peters. An oil-cask was float- 
ing within a few feet of me, and various other 
articles from the brig were scattered about. 

My principal terror was now on account of 
the sharks, which 1 knew to be in my vicinity. 
In order to deter these, if possible, from ap- 
proaching me, I splashed the water vigorously 
with both hands and feet as 1 swam towards 
the hulk, creating a body of foam. I have no 
doubt that to this expedient, simple as it was, 
I was indebted for my preservation ; for the sea 
all around the brig, just before her rolling over, 
was so crowded with these monsters, that I 
must have been, and really was, in actual con- 
tact with some of them during my progress. 
By great good fortune, however, I reached the 
side of the vessel in safety, although so utterly 
weakened by the violent exertion I had used 
that I should never have been able to get upon 
it but for the timely assistance of Peters, who 



now, to my great joy, made his appearance 
(having scrambled up to the keel from the op- 
posite side of the hull), and threw me the end 
of a rope — one of those which had been at- 
tached to the spikes. 

Having barely escaped this danger, our at- 
tention was now directed to the dreadful im- 
minency of another, that of absolute starva- 
tion. Our whole stock of provisions had been 
swept overboard in spite of all our care in 
securing it ; and seeing no longer the remotest 
possibility of obtaining more, we gave way 
both of us to despair, weeping aloud like chil- 
dren, and neither of us attempting to offer con- 
solation to the other. Such weakness can 
scarcely be conceived, and to those who have 
never been similarly situated, will, no doubt, 
appear unnatural ; but it must be remembered, 
that our intellects were so entirely disordered 
by the long course of privation and terror to 
which we had been subjected, that we could 
not be justly considered, at that period, in the 
light of rational beings. In subsequent perils, 
nearly as great, if not greater, I bore up with 
fortitude against the evils of my situation, and 
Peters, it will be seen, evinced a stoical philo- 
sophy nearly as incredible as his present child- 
like supineness and imbecility — the mental 
condition made the difference. 

The overturning of the brig, even with the 
consequent loss of wine and turtle, would not, 
in fact, have rendered our situation more de- 
plorable than before, except for the disap- 
pearance of the bedclothes, by which we had 
been hitherto enabled to catch rain-water ; and 
of the jug, in which we had kept it whea 
caught ; for we found the whole bottom, from 
within two or three feet of the bends as far as 
the keel, together with the keel itself, thickly 
covered with large barnactes, which proved to 
be excellent and highly nutritious food. Thus, 
in two important respects, the accident we had 
so greatly dreaded proved a benefit rather than 
an injury ; it had opened to us a supply of pro- 
visions, which we could not have exhausted, 
using it moderately, in a month; and it had 
greatly contributed to our comfort as regards 
position, we being much more at our ease, and 
in infinitely less danger than before. 

The difficulty, however, of now obtaining 
water blinded us to all the benefits of the 
change in our condition. That we might be 
ready to avail ourselves, as far as possible, of 
any shower which might fall, we took off our 
shirts, to make use of them as we had of the 
sheets— not hoping, of course, to get more in 
this way, even under the most favourable cir- 
cumstances, than half a gill at a time. No 
signs of a cloud appeared during the day, and 
the agonies of our thirst were nearly intole- 
rable. At night Peters obtained an hour's dis- 
turbed sleep, but my intense suffering would 
not permit me to close my eyes for a single 
moment. 

August 5. — To-day, a gentle breeze spring- 
ing up carried us through a yast quantity of 



46 



THE OVEL NEWSPAPER. 



seaweed, among which we were so fortunate 
as to find eleven small crabs, which afforded 
us several delicious meals. Their shells being 
quite soft, we ate them entire, and found that 
they irritated our thirst far less than the bar- 
nacles. Seeing no trace of sharks among the 
seaweed, we also ventured to bathe, ami re- 
mained in the water four or five hours, during 
which we experienced a very sensible diminu- 
tion of our thirst. Were greatly refreshed, 
and spent the night somewhat, more coufortably 
than before, both of us snatching a little sleep. 

August 6. — This day we were blessed by a 
brisk and continual rain, lasting from about 
noun until after dark. Bitterly did we now 
regret the loss of our jug and carboy ; for in 
spite of the little means we had of catching the 
water, we might have filled one, if not both of 
them. As it was, we contrived to satisfy the 
cravings of thirst by suffering the shirts to be- 
come saturated, and then wringing them so as 
to let the grateful fluid trickle into our mouths. 
In this occupation we passed the entire day. 

August 7. — Just at daybreak we both, at the 
Same instant, descried a sail to the eastward, 
and evidently coming towards us ! We hailed 
the glorious sight with a long, although feeble 
shout of rapture ; and began instantly to make 
yery signal in our power, by flaring the shirts 
in the air, leaping as high as our weak con- 
dition would permit, and even by hallooing with 
all the strength of our lungs, although the 
vessel could not have been less than fifteen 
miles distant. However, she still continued to 
near our hulk, and we felt that, if she but held 
her present course, she must eventually come so 
close as to perceive us. In about an hour after 
we first discovered her we could clearly per- 
ceive the people on her decks. She was a long, 
low, and rakish-looking topsail schooner, with 
a black ball in the foretopsail, and had, appa- 
rently, a full crew. We now became alarmed, 
for Ave could hardly imagine it possible that she 
did not observe us, and were apprehensive that 
she meant to leave us to perish as we were — an 
act of fiendish barbarity, which, however in- 
credible it may appear, has been repeatedly 
perpetrated at sea, under circumstances very 
neaily similar, and by beings who were re- 
garded as belonging to the human species.* 

* The case of the brig Polly, of Boston, is one so 
much in point, and her fate, in many respects, so 
remarkably similar to our own, that, I cannot for- 
bear alluding to it here. This vessel, of one hun- 
dred and thirty tons burden, sailed from Boston, 
with a curgo of lumber and provisions, for Santa 
Croix, on the 12th of December, 181 1, under the 
command of Captain Casneau. There were eight 
souls on board besides the captain — the mate, four 
seamen, and the cook, together with a Mr. Hunt, 
and a negro girl belonging to him. On the fifteenth, 
having cleared the shoal of Georges, she sprung a 
leak in a gale of wind from the south-east, and was 
finally capsized; but, the mast going by the board, 
jshe afterward righted. They remained in this si- 
tuation, vrnhout tire, and with very little provision, 



In this instance, however, by the mercy of 
God, we were destined to be most happily de- 
ceived ; for presently we were aware of a 
sudden commotion on the deck of the stranger,, 
who immediately afterward run up a British 
flag, and, hauling her wind, bore up directly 
upon us. In half an hour more we found our- 
selves in her cabin. She proved to be the 
Jane Guy, of Liverpool, Captain Guy, bound 
on a sealing and trading voyage to the South 
Seas and Pacific. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Jane Guy was a fine-looking topsail 
schooner of a hundred and eighty tons burden. 
She was unusually sharp in the bows, and on a 
wind, in moderate weather, the fastest sailer I 
have ever seen. Her qualities, however, as a 
rough sea-boat, were not so good, and her 
draught of water was by far too great for the 
trade to which she was destined. For this pe- 
culiar service a larger vessel, and one of a light 
proportionate diaught, is desirable— say a vessel 
of from three to three hundred and fifty tons. 
She should be barque-rigged, and of a different 
construction from the usual South Sea ships. 
It is absolutely necessary that she should be 
well armed. She should have, say ten or 
twelve twelve-pound carronades, and two or 
three long twelves, with brass blunderbuses, 
and water-tight arm chests for each top. Her 
anchors and cables should be of far greater 
strength than is required fur any other species 
of trade, and, above all, her crew should be nu- 
merous and efficient— not less, for such a vessel 
as I have described, than fifty or sixty able- 
bodied men. The Jane Guy had a crew of 
thirty-five, all able seamen, besides the captain 
and mate, but she was not altogether as well 
armed or otherwise equipped as a navigator 

for the period of one hundred and ?i!ne(i/-one days 
(from December the fifteenth to June the twentieth), 
when Captain Casneau and Samuel Badger, the 
only survivors, were token off the wreck by the 
Fume, of Hull, Captain Feathurstone, bound home 
from Rio Janeiro. When picked up thev were in 
latitude 2S N., longitude 13 W., having drifted above 
two thousand miles. On the ninth of July the Fame 
fell in with the brigDromeo. Captain Perkins, who 
landed the two sufferers in Kennebeck. The nar- 
rative from which we gather these details ends in 
the following words : — 

" It is natural to inquire how they could float 
such a vast distance, upon the most frequented 
part of the Alantic, and not be discovered all this 
time. They were passed by more than a dozen sail, 
one of which came so nigh that they could distinctly 
see the people on deck and on her rigging looking at 
them; but, to the inexpressible disappointnitnt of th* 
starving and freezing men, they stijltd the dictates of 
compassion, hoisted sail, a?id cruelly abandoned them 
to their fate.* 



ADVENTURES OP ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



47 



acquainted with the difficulties and dangers of 
the trade could have desired. 

Captain Guy was a gentleman of great 
urbanity of manner, and of considerable expe- 
rience in the southern traffic, to which he had 
devoted a great portion of his life. He was 
deficient, however, in energy, and consequently, 
in that spirit of enterprise winch is here so 
absolutely requisite. He was part owner of 
the vessel in which he sailed, and was invested 
with discretionary powers to cruise in the South 
Seas for any cargo wnich might come must 
readily to hand. He had on board, as usual in 
such voyages, beads, looking-glasses, tinder- 
works, axes, hatchets, saws, adzes, planes, 
chisels, gouges, gimlets, files, spokeshaves, 
rasps, hammers, nails, knives, scissors, razors, 
needles, thread, crockeryware, calico, trinkets, 
and other similar articles. 

The schooner sailed from Liverpool on the 
tenth of July, crossed the tropic of Cancer on 
the twenty-fifth, in longitude twenty degrees 
west, and reached Sal, one of the Cape Verd 
Islands, on the twenty-ninth, where she took 
in salt and other necessaries tor the voyage. 
On the third of August she left the Cape Verds 
and steered south-west, stretching over towards 
the coast of Brazil so as to cross the equator 
between the meridians of twenty-eight and 
thirty degrees west longitude. This ' is the 
course usually taken by vessels bound from 
Europe to the Cape of Good Hope, or by that 
route to the East Indies. By proceeding thus 
they avoid the calms and strong contrary cur- 
rents which continually prevail on the coast 
of Guinea, while, in the end, it is found to be 
the shortest track, as westerly winds are never 
wanting afterward by which to reach the Cape. 
It was Captain Guy's intention to make his 
first stoppage at Kerguelen's Land — 1 hardly 
know lor what reason. On the day we were 
picked up, the schooner was off Cape St. Roque, 
in longitude thirty-one west; so that, when 
found, we had drifted probably, from north to 
south, not less than five-and-twenty degrees. 

On board the Jane Guy we were treated with 
all the kindness our distressed situation de- 
manded. In about a fortnight, during which 
time we continued steering to the south-east 
with gentle breezes and fine weather, both 
Peters and myself recovered entirely from the 
effects of our late privation and dreadful suf- 
fering, and we began to remember what had 
passed .rather as a frightful dream from which 
we had been happily awakened, than as events 
which had taken place in sober and naked 
reality. I have since found that this species 
of partial oblivion is usually brought about by 
sudden transition, whether from joy to sorrow 
or from sorrow to joy— the degree of forge tful- 
ness being proportioned to the degree of dif- 
ference in the exchange. Thus, in my own 
case, I now feel it impossible to realise the full 
•extent of the misery which I endured during 
the days spent upon the hulk. The incidents 
are remembered, but not the feelings which the 



incidents elicited at the time of their occur- 
rence. I only know that, when they did occur, 
I then thcught human nature could susiain no- 
thing more of agony. 

We continued our voyage for some weeks 
without any incidents of greater moment than 
the occasional meeting with whaling-ships, and 
more frequently with the black or right whale, 
so called in contradistinction to the spermaceti. 
These, however, were ch efly found south of 
the twenty-fifth parallel. On the sixteenth of 
September, being in the vicinity of the Cape 
of Good Hope, the schooner encountered her 
first gale of any violence since leaving Liver- 
pool. In this neighbourhood, but more fre- 
quently to the south and east of the promon- 
tory (we were to the westward), navigators 
have often to contend with storms from the 
northward which rage with great fury. They 
always bring with them a heavy sea, and one 
of their most dangerous features is th e instant 
taneous chopping round of the wind ; an oc- 
currence almost certain to take place during 
the greatest force of the gale. A perfect hur- 
ricane will be blowing at one moment from the 
northward or north-east, and in the next not a 
breath of wind will be felt in that direction, 
while Irom the south-west it will come out all 
at once with a violence almost inconceivable. 
A bright spot to the southward is the sure 
forerunner of the change, and vessels are thus 
enabled to take the proper precautions. 

It was about six in the morning when the 
blow came on with a white squall, and as 
usual, from northward. By eight it had in- 
creased very much, and brought down upon 
us one of the most tremendous seas I had ever 
beheld. Every thing had been made as snug 
as possible, but the schooner laboured exces- 
sively, and gave evidence of her bad qualities 
as a sea- boat, pitching her forecastle under at 
every plunge, and with the greatest difficulty 
struggling up from one wave before she was 
buried in another. Just before sunset the 
bright spot for which we had been on the look- 
out made its appearance in the south-west, and 
in an hour afterward we perceived the little 
headsail we carried flapping listlessly against 
the mast. In two minutes more, in spite of 
every preparation, we were hurled on our 
beam-ends as if by magic, and a perfect wil- 
derness of foam made a clear breach over us as 
we lay. The blow from the south-west, how- 
ever, luckily proved to be nothing more than 
a squall, and we had the good fortune to right 
the vessel without the loss of a spar. A heavy 
cross-sea gave us great trouble for a few hours 
after this, but towards morning we found our- 
selves in nearly as good condition as before the 
gale. Captain Guy considered that he had 
made an escape little less than miraculous. 

On the thirteenth of October we came in 
sight of Prince Edward's Island, in latitude 
46 deg. 53 min. south, longitude 37 deg. 46 min. 
east. Two days afterward we found our&elves 
near Possession Island, and presently passed, 



48 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



the islands of Crozet, in latitude 42 deg. 59 min. 
South, longitude 48 east. On the eighteenth 
•we made Kerguelen's or Desolation Island, 
in the Southern Indian Ocean, and came to 
anchor in Christmas Harbour, having four 
fathoms of water. 

This island, or rather group of islands, bears 
south-east from the Oape of Good Hope, and 
is distant therefrom nearly 800 leagues. It was 
first discovered in 1772, by the Baron de Ker- 
gulen, or Kerguclen, a Frenchman, who, think- 
ing the land to form a portion of an extensive 
southern continent, carried home information 
to that effect, which produced much excitement 
at the time. The government taking the matter I 
up, sent the Baron back in the following year 
for the purpose of giving his new discovery a 
critical examination, when the mistake was 
discovered. In 1777, Captain Cook fell in 
with the same group, and gave to the principal 
one the name of Desolation Island, a title which 
it certainly well deserves. Upon approaching 
the land, however, the navigator might be in- 
duced to suppose otherwise, as the sides of 
most of the hills from September to March are 
clothed with very brilliant verdure. This de- 
ceitful appearance is caused by a smail plant 
resembling saxifrage, which is abundant, grow- 
ing in large patches on a species of crumbling 
moss. Besides this plant there is scarcely a 
sign of vegetation on the island, if we except 
some coarse rank grass near the harbour, some 
lichen, and a shrub which bears resemblance 
to a cabbage shooting into seed, and which has 
a bitter and acrid taste. 

The face of the country is hilly, although 
none of the hills can be called lofty. Their 
tops are perpetually covered with snow. There 
are several harbours, of which Christmas Har- 
bour is the most convenient. It is the first to 
be met with on the north-east side of the island 
after passing Cape Frangais, which forms the 
northern shore, and by its peculiar shape serves 
to distinguish the harbour. Its projecting point 
terminates in a high rock, through which is a 
large hole, forming a natural arch. The en- 
trance is in latitude 48 deg. 40 min. south, 
longitude 69 deg. 6 mm. east. Passing in here, 
good anchorage may be found under the shelter 
of several small islands, which form a sufficient 
protection from all easterly winds. Proceeding 
on eastwardly from this anchorage you come 
to Wasp Bay, at the head of the harbour. 
This is a small basin, completely landlocked, 
into which you can go with four fathoms, and 
find anchorage in from ten to three, hard clay 
bottom. A ship might lie here with her best 
bower ahead all the year round without risk. 
To the westward, at the head of Wasp Bay, 
is a small stream of excellent water, easily 
procured. 

Some seal of the fur and hair species are 
Still to be found on Kerguelen's Island, and sea 
elephants abound. The feathered tribes are 
discovered in great numbers. Penguins are 
•very plenty, and of these there are four dif- 



ferent kinds. The royal penguin, so called from 
its size and beautiful plumage, is the largest. 
The upper part of the body is usually grey, 
sometimes of a lilac tint; the under portion, 
of the purest white imaginable. The head is 
of a glossy and most brilliant black, the feet 
also. The chief beauty of the plumage, how- 
ever, consists in two broad stripes of a gold 
colour, which pass along from the head to the 
breast. The bill is long, and either pink or 
bright scarlet. These birds walk erect, with 
a stately carriage. They carry their heads 
high, with their wings drooping like two arms, 
and as their tails project from their body in a 
line with the legs, the resemblance to a human 
figure is very striking, and would be apt to 
deceive the spectator at a casual glance or in 
the gloom of the evening. The royal penguins 
which we met with on Kerguelen's Land were 
rather larger than a goose. The other kinds 
are the macaroni, the jackass, and the rookery 
penguin. These are much smaller, less beau- 
tiful in plumage, and different in other re- 
spects. 

Besides the penguin, many other birds are 
here to be found, among which may be men- 
tioned sea-hens, blue peterels, teal, ducks, 
Port Egmont hens, shags, Cape pigeons, the 
nelly, sea-swallows, terns, sea-gulls, Mother 
Carey's chickens, Mother Carey's geese, or the 
great peterel, and lastly, the albatross. 

The great peterel is as large as the common 
albatross, and is carnivorous. It is frequently 
called the break-bones, or osprey peterel. 
They are not at all shy, and, when properly 
cooked, are palatable food. In flying they 
sometimes sail very close to the surface of the 
water, with the wings expanded, without ap- 
pearing to move them in the least degree, or 
make any exertion with them whatever. 

The albatross is one of the largest and 
fiercest of the South Sea birds. It is of the 
gull species, and takes its prey on the wing, 
never coming on land except lor the purpose of 
breeding. Between this bird and the penguin 
the most singular friendship exists. Their 
nests are constructed with great uniformity, 
upon a plan concerted between the two species 
—that of the albatross being placed in the 
centre of a little square formed by the nests of 
four penguins. Navigators have agreed in 
calling an assemblage of such encampments a 
rockery. These rookeries have been often 
described ; but as my readers may not all have 
seen these descriptions, and as I shall have oc- 
casion hereafter to speak of the penguin and 
albatross, it will not be amiss to say something 
here of their mode of building and living. 

When the season for incubation arrives, the 
birds assemble in vast numbers, and for some 
days appear to be deliberating upon the proper 
course to be pursued. At length they proceed 
to action. A level piece of ground is selected* 
of suitable extent, usually comprising three or 
four acres, and situated as near the sea as pos- 
| sible, being still beyond its reach. The spot is 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



49 



chosen with reference to its evenness of sur- 
face, and that is preferred which is the least 
encumbered with stones. This matter being 
arranged, the birds proceed, with one accord, 
and actuated apparently by one mind, to trace 
out, with mathematical accuracy, either a 
square or other parallelogram, as may best suit 
the nature of the ground, and of just sufficient 
size to accommodate easily all the birds as- 
sembled, and no more, — in this particular seem- 
ing determined upon preventing the access of 
future stragglers who have not participated in 
the labour of the encampment. One side of 
the place marked out runs parallel with the 
water's edge, and is left open for ingress or 
egress. 

Having defined the limits of the rookery, the 
colony now begin to clear it of every species of 
rubbish, picking up stone by stone, and carry- 
ing them outside of the lines, and cluse by 
them, so as to form a wall on the three inland 
sides. Just within this wall a perfectly level 
and smooth walk is formed, from six to eight 
feet wide, and extending around the encamp- 
ment—thus serving the purpose of a general 
promenade. 

The next process is to partition out the whole 
area into small squares exactly equal in size. 
This is done by forming narrow paths, very 
smooth, and crossing each other at right angles 
throughout the entire extent of the rookery. 
At each intersection of these paths the nest of 
an albatross is constructed, and a penguin's 
nest in the centre of each square — thus every 
penguin is surrounded by four albatrosses, and 
each albatross by a like number of penguins. 
The penguin's nest consists of a hole in the 
earth, very shallow, being only just of a suffi- 
cient depth to keep her single egg from rolling. 
The albatross is somewhat less simple in her 
arrangements, erecting a hillock about a foot 
high and two feet in diameter. This is made of 
earth, seaweed, and shells. On its summit she 
builds her nest. 

The birds take especial care never to leave 
their nests unoccupied for an instant during the 
period of their incubation, or, indeed, until the 
young progeny are sufficiently strong to take 
care of themselves. While the male is absent 
at sea in search of food, the female remains on 
duty, and it is only upon the return of her 
partner that she ventures abroad. The eggs 
are never left uncovered at all— while one bird 
leaves the nest, the other nestling in by its 
side. This precaution is rendered necessary 
by the thievish propensities prevalent in the 
rookery, the inhabitants making no scruple to 
purloin each other's eggs at every good opportu- 
nity. 

Although there are some rookeries in which 
the penguin and albatross are the sole popula- 
tion, yet in most of them a variety of oceanic 
birds are to be met with, enjoying all the privi- 
leges of citizenship, and scattering their nests 
here and there, wherever they can find room, 
never interfering, however, with the stations of 



larger species. The appearance of such en- 
campments, when seen from a distance, is ex- 
ceedingly singular. The whole atmosphere 
just above the settlement is darkened with the 
immense number of the albatross (mingled with 
the smaller tribes) which are continually hover- 
ing over it, either going to the ocean or return- 
ing home. At the same time a crowd of pen- 
guins are to be observed, some passing to and 
fro in the narrow alleys, and some marching, 
with the military strut so peculiar to them, 
around the general promenade-ground which 
encircles the rookery. In short, survey it as 
we will, nothing can be more astonishing than 
the spirit of reflection evinced by these fea- 
thered beings, and nothing surely can be better 
calculated to elicit reflection in every well-regu- 
lated human intellect. 

On the morning after our arrival in Christ- 
mas Harbour the chief mate, Mr. Patterson, 
took the boats, and although it was somewhat 
early in the season, went in search of seal, 
leaving the captain and a young relation of his 
on a point of barren land to the westward, they 
having some business, whose nature I could not 
ascertain, to transact in the interior of the 
island. Captain Guy took with him a bottle, 
in which was a sealed letter, and made his way 
from the point on which he was set on shore 
towards one of the highest peaks in the place. 
It is probable that his design was to leave the 
letter on that height for some vessel which he 
expected to come after him. As soon as we 
lost sight of him we proceeded (Peters and 
myself being in the mate's boat) on our cruise 
around the coast, looking for seal. In this 
business we were occupied about three weeks, 
examining with great care every nook and cor- 
ner, not only of Kerguelen's Land, but of the 
several small islands in the vicinity. Our la- 
bours, however, were not crowned with im- 
portant success. We saw a great many fur 
seal, but they were exceedingly shy, and, with 
the greatest exertions, we could only procure 
three hundred and fifty skins in all. Sea ele- 
phants were abundant, especially on the western 
coast of the main island, but of these we killed 
only twenty, and this with great difficulty. 
On the smaller islands we discovered a good 
many of the hair seal, but did not molest them, 
We returned to the schooner on the eleventh, 
where we found Captain Guy and his nephew, 
who gave a very bad account of the interior, 
representing it as one of the most dreary and 
utterly barren countries in the world. They 
had remained two nights on the island, owing 
to some misunderstanding on the part of the 
second mate, in regard to the sending a jolly- 
boat from the schooner to take them off. 



CHAPTER XV. 
On the twelfth we made sail from Christmas 



50 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



Harbour, retracing our way to the westward, 
«,nd leaving Marion's Island, one of Crozet's 
group, on the larboard. We afterward passed 
Prince Eaward's Island, leaving it also on our 
left; then, steering more to the northward, 
made, in fifteen days, the islands of Tristan 
d'Acunha, in latitude 37 deg. 8 min. S., longi- 
tude 12 deg. 8 min. W. 

This group, now so well known, and which 
•consists of three circular islands, was first dis- 
covered by the Portuguese, and was visited 
afterward by the Dutch in 1643, and by the 
French in 1767. The three islands together 
form a triangle, and are distant from each other 
about ten miles, there being fine open passages 
between. The land in all of them is very high, 
especially in Tristan d'Acunha, properly so 
called. This is the largest of the group, being 
fifteen miles in circumference, and so elevated 
that it can be seen in clear weather at the dis- 
tance of eighty or ninety miles. A part of the 
land towards the north rises more than a thou- 
sand feet perpendicularly from the sea. A 
table-land at this height extends back nearly to 
the centre of the islands, and from this table- 
land arises a lofty cone like that of Ten e rifle. 
The lower half of this cone is clothed with 
trees of good size, but the upper region is 
barren rock, usually hidden among the clouds, 
and covered with snow during the greater part 
of the year. There are no shoals or other 
dangers about the island, the shores being re- 
markably bold and the water deep. On the 
north-western coast is a bay, with a beach of 
black sand, where a landing with boats can be 
easily effected, provided there be a southerly 
wind. Plenty of excellent water may here be 
readily procured ; also cod, and other fish, may 
be taken with hook and line. 

The next island in point of size, and the 
most westwardly of the group, is that called 
the Inaccessible. Its precise situation is 37 
deg. 17 min. S. latitude; longitude 12 deg. 24 
min. W. It is seven or eight miles in circum- 
ference, and on all sides presents a forbidding 
and precipitous aspect. Its top is perfectly 
flat, and the whole region is steril, nothing 
growing upon it except a few stunted shrubs. 

Nightingale Island, the smallest and most 
southerly, is in latitude 37 deg. 26 min. S., 
longitude 12 deg. 12 min. W. Off its southern 
extremity is a high ledge of rocky islets ; a few 
also of a similar appearance are seen to the 
north-east. The ground is irregular and 
Steril, and a deep valley partially separates it. 

The shores of these islands abound, in the 
proper season, with sea-lions sea-elephants, 
the hair and fur seal, together with a great 
Variety of oceanic birds. Whales are also 
plenty in their vicinity. Owing to the ease 
with which these various animals were here 
formerly taken, the group has been much 
visited since its discovery. The Dutch and 
French frequented it at a very early period. In 
1790, Captain Patten, of the ship Industry, of 
Philadelphia, made Tristan d'Acunha, where 



he remained seven months (from August, 1790, 
to April, 1791), for the purpose of collecting 
seal skins. In this time he gathered no less 
than five thousand six hundred, and says that 
he would have had no difficulty in loading a 
large ship with oil in three weeks. Upon his 
arrival he found no quadrupeds, with the ex- 
ception of a few wild goats : the island now 
abounds with all our most valuable domestic 
ani.nals, which have been introduced by sub- 
sequent navigators. 

1 believe it was not long after Captain 
Patten's visit, that Captain Colquhoun, of the 
American brig Betsey, touched at the largest 
of the islands for the purpose of refreshment. 
He planted onions, potatoes, cabbages, and a 
great many other vegetables, an abundance of 
all which are now to be met with. 

In 1811, a Captain Heywood, in the Nereus, 
visited Tristan He found there three Ameri- 
cans, who were residing upon the islands to 
prepare seal skins and oil. One of these men 
was named Jonathan Lambert, and he called 
himself the sovereign of the country. He had 
cleared and cultivated about sixty acres of 
land, and turned his attention to raising the 
coffee-plant and sugar-cane, with which he had 
been furnished by the American minister at 
Rio Janeiro. This settlement, however, was 
finally abandoned ; and in 1817 the is'ands 
were taken possession of by the British go- 
vernment, who sent a detachment for that pur- 
pose from the Cape of Good Hope. They did 
not, however, retain them long ; but, up jn the 
evacuation of the country as a British posses- 
sion, two or three English families took up 
their residence there independently of the 
government. On the 25th of March, 1824, the 
Berwick, Captain Jeffrey, from London to Van 
Diemen's Land, arrived at the place, where 
they found an Englishman of the name of 
Glass, formerly a coiporal in the British artil- 
lery. He claimed to be supreme governor of 
the islands, and had under his control twenty- 
one men and three women. He gave a very 
favourable account of the salubrity of the 
climate and of the productiveness of the soil. 
The population occupied themselves chiefly in 
collecting seal skins and sea-elephant oil, with 
which they traded to the Cape of Good Hope, 
Glass owning a small schooner. At the period 
of our arrival, the governor was still a res. dent, 
but his little community had multiplied, there 
being fifty-six persons upon Tristan, besides a 
smaller settlement of seven on Mghiingale 
Island. We had no difficulty in procuring 
almost every kind of refreshment which we 
required— sheep, hogs, bullocks, rabbits, poul- 
try, goats, fish in great variety, and vegetables 
were abundant. Having come to anchor close 
in with the large island, in eighteen faihom3, 
we took all we wanted on board very con- 
veniently. Captain Guy also purchased of 
Glass five hundred seal skins and some ivory. 
We remained here a week, during which the 
prevailing winds were from the northward and 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM 



•westward, and the weather somewhat hazy. 
On the fifth of November we made sail to the 
southward and westward, with the intention of 
having a thorough search for a group of islands 
called the Auroras, respecting whose existence 
a gieat diversity of opinion has for a long time 
existed. 

These islands are said to have been dis- 
coveied as early as 1762, by the commander of 
the ship Aurora. In 1790, Captain Manuel de 
Oyarvidj, in the ship Princess, belonging to the 
Royal Philippine Company, sailed, as he 
asserts, directly among them. In 1794, the 
Spanish corvette Atrevida went with the de- 
termination of ascertaining their precise situa- 
tion, and in a paper published by the Royal 
Hydrographical Society of Madrid in 1809, 
the following language is used respecting this 
expedition :—" The corvette Atrevida prac- 
tised, in their immediate vicinity, from the 21st 
to the 27th of January, all the necessary 
observations, and measured by chronometers 
the difference of longitude between these 
islands and the port of Soledad in the Mal- 
niuas. The islands are three ; they are very 
nearly in the same meridian ; the centre one is 
rather low, and the other two may be seen at 
nine leagues distance." The observations 
made on board the Atrevida give the following 
results as the precise situation of each island. 
The most northern is in latitude 52 deg. 37 
min. 24 sec. S., longitude 47 deg. 43 min. 15 
sec. W. ; the middle one in latitude 53 deg. 2 
min. 40 sec. S., longitude 47 deg. 55 min. 
15 sec. W. ; and the most southern in latitude 
53 deg. 15 min. 22 sec. S., longitude 47 deg. 
57 miu. 15 sec. W. 

On the 27th of January, 1820, Captain 
James Weddel, of the British navy, sailed 
from Staten Land also in search of the 
Auroras. He reports that, having made the 
most diligent search, and passed not only 
immediately over the spots indicated by the 
commander of the Atrevida, but in every 
direction throughout the vicinity of these 
spots, he could discover no indication of land. 
These conflicting statements have induced 
other navigators to look out for the islands ; 
and, etrauge to say, while some have sailed 
through every inch of sea where they are sup- 
posed to lie without finding them, there have 
been not a few who declare positively that 
they have seen them, and even been close in 
with their shores. It was Captain Guy's 
intention to make every exertion within his 
power to settle the question so oddly in 
dispute.* 

We kept on our course, between the south 
and west, with variable weather, until the 

* Among the vessels which at various times have 
professed to meet with the Auroras may be men- 
tioned the ship San Miguel, in 1769: the ship 
Aurora, in 1774; the bri- Pear], in 1779; and the 
ship Dolores, in 1790. Tuey all agree in giving the 
mean, latitude 53 degrees souih. 



51 

twentieth of the month, when we found our* 
selves on the debated ground, being in latitude 
53 deg. 15 min. S., longitude 47 deg. 58 min^ 
W. — that is to say, very nearly upon the spot 
indicated as the s tuation of the most southern 
of the group. Not perceiving. any sign of la id r 
we continued to the westward in the parallel of 
53 degr es south, as far as the meridian uf 50 
degrees west. We then stood to the north as 
far as the parallel of 5^ degrees south, when 
we turned to the eastward, and kept our 
parallel by double altitudes, morning and 
evening, and meridian altitudes of the planets 
and moon. Having thus gone eastwardly to- . 
the meridian of the western coast of Georgia,, 
we kept that meridian until we were in the 
latitude from which we set out. We then took 
diagonal courses throughout the entire extent 
uf sea circumscribed, keeping a look-out con- 
stantly at the masthead, and repeating our 
examination with the greatest care for a period 
of three weeks, during which the weather was 
remarkably pleasant and fair, with no haze 
whatsoever. Of course we were thoroughly 
satisfied that, whatever islands might have 
existed in this vicinity at any former period, 
no vestige of them remained at the present 
day. Since my return home I find that the 
same ground was traced over with equal care 
in 1822, by Captain Johnson, of the American 
schooner Henry, and by Captain Morrell, in 
the American schooner Wasp — in both cases 
with the same result as in our own. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



It had been Captain Guy's original intention^ 
after satisfying himself about tue Auroras, to 
proceed through the Strait of Magellan, and up 
along the western coast of Patagonia ; but in- 
formation receixed at Tristan d'Acunha in- 
duced him to steer to the southward, in the hope 
of falling in with some small islands said to 
lie about the parallel of 60 deg. S., longitude 
41 deg. 20 min. W. In the event of hisj not 
discovering these lands, he designed, should the 
season prove favourable, to push on towards 
the pole. Accordingly, on the 12th of Decem- 
ber, we made sail in that direction. On the 
18th we found ourselves about the station indi- 
cated by Glass, and cruised for three days in 
that neighbourhood without finding any traces 
of the islands he had mentioned. On the 21st, 
the weather being unusually pleasant, we again 
made sail to the southward, with the resolution 
of penetrating in that course as far as possible. 
Before entering upon this portion of my narra- 
tive, it may be as well, for the information of 
those readers who have paid little attention to 
the progress of discovery in these regions, to 
give some bref account of the very few at- 
tempts at reaching the southern pole which 
have hitherto uten made. 



52 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



That of Captain Cook was the first of which 
We have any distinct account. In 1772 he 
sailed to the south in the Resolution, accom- 
panied by Lieutenant Furneaux in the Ad- 
yenture. In December he found himself as 
far as the fifty-eighth parallel of south latitude, 
and in longitude 26 deg. 57 min. E. Here he 
met with narrow fields of ice, about eight or ten 
inches thick, and running north-west and south- 
east. This ice was in large cakes, and usually 
it was packed so closely that the vessels had 
great difficulty in forcing a passage. At this 
period Captain Cook supposed, from the vast 
number of birds to be seen, and from other in- 
dications, that he was in the near vicinity of 
land. He kept on to the southward, the wea- 
ther being exceedingly cold, until he reached 
the sixty-fourth parallel, in longitude 38 deg. 
14 min. E. Here he had mild weather, with 
gentle breezes, for five days, the thermometer 
being at thirty-six. In January, 1773, the 
vessels crossed the antarctic circle, but did not 
succeed in penetrating much farther, for upon 
reaching latitude 67 deg. 15 min., they found 
all further progress impeded by an immense 
body of ice, extending all along the southern 
horizon as far as the eye could reach. This ice 
was of every variety — and some large floes of 
it, miles in extent, formed a compact mass, 
rising eighteen or twenty feet above the water. 
It being late in the season, and no hope enter- 
tained of rounding these obstructions, Captain 
Cook now reluctantly turned to the northward. 

In the November following he renewed his 
search in the antarctic. In latitude 59 deg. 40 
min. he met with a strong current setting to the 
southward. In December, when the vessels 
were in latitude 67 deg. 31 min., longitude 142 
deg. 54 min. W., the cold was excessive, with 
heavy gales and fog. Here also birds were 
abundant ; the albatross, the penguin, and the 
peterel especially. In latitude 70 deg. 23 min. 
same large islands of ice were encountered, and 
shortly afterwards the clouds to the southward 
were observed to be of a snowy whiteness, 
indicating the vicinity of field-ice. In latitude 
71 deg. 10 min., longitude 106 deg. 54 min. 
W., the navigators were stopped, as before, by 
an immense frozen expanse, which filled the 
whole area of the southern horizon. The 
northern edge of this expanse was ragged 
and broken, so firmly wedged together as to be 
utterly impassable, and extending about a mile 
to the southward. Behind it the frozen surface 
was comparatively smooth for some distance, 
until terminated in the extreme back-ground 
by gigantic ranges of ice mountains, the one 
towering above the other. Captain Cook con- 
cluded that this vast field reached the southern 
pole, or was joined to a continent. Mr. J. N. 
Reynolds, whose great exertions and perse- 
verance have at length succeeded in getting set 
on foot a national expedition, partly for the 
purpose of exploring these regions, thus speaks 
of the attempt of the resolution:—" We are 
Hot surprised that Captain Cook was unable to 



go beyond 71 deg. 10 min., but we are asto- 
nished that he did attain that point on the me- 
ridian of 106 deg. 54 min. west longitude. 
Palmer's Land lies south of the Shetland, la- 
titude sixty-four degrees, and tends to the 
southward and westward farther than any na- 
vigator had yet penetrated. Cook was standing 
for this island when his progress was arrested 
by the ice ; which, we apprehend, must always 
be the case in that poiit, and so early in the 
season as the sixth of" January ; and we should 
not be surprised if a portion of the icy moun- 
tains described was attached to the main body 
of Palmer's Land, or to some other portions of 
land lying farther to the southward and west- 
ward." 

In 1803 Captains Kreutzenstern and Lisiausky 
were dispatched by Alexander of Russia for 
the purpose of circumnavigating the globe. In 
endeavouring to get south they made no farther 
than 59 deg. 58 min., in longitude 70 deg. 15 
min. W. They here met with strong currents 
setting eastwardly. Whales were abundant, 
but they saw no ice. In regard to this voyage, 
Mr. Reynolds observed that, if Kruetzenstera 
had arrived where he did earlier in the season, 
he must have encountered ice — it was March 
when he reached the latitude specified. The 
winds prevailing, as they do, from the south- 
ward and westward, had carried the floes, aided 
by currents, into that icy region bounded on the 
north by Georgia, east by Sandwich Land and 
the South Orkneys, and west by the South Shet- 
land Islands. 

In 1822 Captain James Weddell, of the Bri- 
tish navy, with two very small vessels, penetrated 
farther to the south than any previous navigator, 
and this, too, without encountering extraor- 
dinary difficulties. He states that, although he 
was frequently hemmed in by ice before reaching 
the seventy -second parallel, yet, upon attaining 
it, not a particle was to be discovered, and that, 
upon arriving at the latitude of 74 deg. 15 min., 
no fields, and only three islands of ice, were 
visible. It is somewhat remarkable that, al- 
though vast flocks of birds were seen, and other 
usual indications of land, and although, south 
of the Shetlands, unknown coasts were observed 
from the masthead tending southward, Weddell 
discourages the idea of land existing in the polar 
regions of the south. 

On the 11 th of January, 1823, Captain Ben- 
jamin Morrell, of the American schooner Wasp, 
sailed from Kerguelen's Land with a view of 
penetrating as far south as possible. On the 
first of February he found himself in latitude 
64 deg. 52 min. S., longitude 118 deg. 27 min. 
E. The following passage is extracted from 
his journal of that date:— "The wind soon 
freshened to an eleven-knot breeze, and we 
embraced this opportunity of making to the 
west ; being, however, convinced that the fur- 
ther we went south beyond latitude sixty-four 
degrees the less ice was to be apprehended, we 
steered a little to the southward, until we crossed 
the antarctic circle, and were in latitude 69 deg. 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



53 



15 min. E. In this latitude there was no field- 
ice and very few ice islands in sight." 

Under the date of March fourteenth I find 
also this entry : — " The sea was now entirely 
free of field-ice, and there were not more than a 
dozen ice islands in sight. At the same time 
the temperature of the air and water was at 
least thirteen degrees higher (more mild) than 
"we had ever found it between the parallels of 
sixty and sixty-two south. We were now in 
latitude 70 deg. 14 min. S., and the temperature 
of the air was forty-seven, and that of the water 
forty-four. In this situation I found the vari- 
ation to be 14 deg. 27 min. easterly, per azimuth 
• • • I have several times passed within the 
antarctic circle on different meridians, and have 
uniformly found the temperature, both of the 
air and the water, become more and more mild 
the farther I advanced beyond the sixty-fifth 
degree of south latitude, and that the variation 
decreases in the same proportion. While north 
of this altitude, say between sixty and sixty-five 
south, we frequently had great difficulty in 
finding a passage for the vessel between the 
immense and almost innumerable ice islands, 
some of which were from one to two miles in 
circumference, and more than five hundred feet 
above the surface of the water." 

Being nearly destitute of fuel and water, and 
without proper instruments, it being also late in 
the season, Captain Morrell was now obliged to 
put back, without attempting any further pro- 
gress to the Southward, although an entirely 
open sea lay before him. He expresses the 
opinion that, had not these overruling consi- 
derations obliged him to retreat, he could have 
penetrated, if not to the pole itself, at least to 
the eighty-fifth parallel. I have given his 
ideas respecting these matters somewhat at 
length, that the reader may have an opportunity 
of seeing how far they were borne out by my 
own subsequent experience. 

In 1831 Captain Briscoe, in the employ of 
Messrs. Enderby, whale shipowners of London, 
sailed in the brig Lively for the South Seas, 
accompanied by the cutter Tula. On the 
twenty-eighth of February, being in latitude 
66 deg. 30 min . S., longitude 47 deg. 31 min. 
E., he descried land, " and clearly discovered 
through the snow the black peaks of a range of 
mountains running E. S. E." He remained in 
this neighbourhood during the whole of the 
following month, but was unable to approach 
the coast nearer than within ten leagues, owing 
to the boisterous state of the weather. Finding 
it impossible to make farther discovery during 
this season, he returned northward to winter in 
Van Diemen's Land. 

In the beginning of 1832 he again proceeded 
southwardly, and on the fourth of February 
land was seen to the south-east in latitude 67 
deg. 15 min., longitude 69 deg. 29 min. W. 
This was soon found to be an island near the 
headland of the country he had first discovered. 
On the twenty-first of the month he succeeded 
in landing on the latter, and took possession of 



it in the name of William IV., calling it Ade- 
laide's Island, in honour of the English Queen. 
These particulars being made known to the 
Royal Geographical Society of London, the 
conclusion was drawn by that body " that there 
is a continuous tract of land extending from 
47 deg. 30 min. E. to 69 deg. 29 min. W. lon- 
gitude, running the parallel of from sixty-six to 
sixty-seven degrees south latitude." In respect 
to this conclusion Mr. Reynolds observes, " In 
the ' correctness of it we by no means concur; 
nor do the discoveries of Briscoe warrant any 
such inference. It was within these limits that 
Weddell proceeded south on a meridian to the 
east of Georgia, Sandwich Land, and the South 
Orkney and Shetland Islands." My own ex- 
perience will be found to testify most directly 
to the falsity of the conclusion arrived at by the 
Society. 

These are the principal attempts which have 
been made at penetrating to a high southern 
latitude, and it will now be seen that there 
remained, previous to the voyage of the Jane, 
nearly three hundred degrees of longitude in 
which the antarctic circle had not been crossed 
at all. Of course a wide field lay before us for 
discovery, and it was with feelings of most in- 
tense interest that I heard Captain Guy express 
his resolution of pushing boldly to the south- 
ward. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



We kept our course southwardly for four 
days, after giving up the search for Glass's Is- 
lands, without meeting with any ice at all. On 
the twenty-sixth, at noon, we were in latitude 
63 deg. 23 min. S., longitude 41 deg. 25 min. 
W. We now saw several large ice islands, and 
a floe of field-ice, not however of any great ex- 
tent. The winds generally blew from the south- 
east or the north-east, but were very light. 
Whenever we had a westerly wind, which was 
seldom, it was invariably attended with a rain 
squall. Every day we had more or less snow. 
The thermometer, on the twenty-seventh, stood 
at thirty five. 

January 1, 1828. — This day we found our- 
selves completely hemmed in by the ice, and our 
prospects looked cheerless indeed. A strong 
sale blew, during the whole forenoon, from the 
north-east, and drove large cakes of the drift 
against the rudder and counter with such 
violence that we all trembled for the conse- 
quences. Towards evening, the gale still blow- 
ing with fury, a large field in front separated, 
and we were enabled, by carrying a press of 
sail, to force a passage through the smaller flakes 
into some open water beyond. As we ap- 
proached this space we tuok in sail by degrees, 
and having at length got clear, lay to under a 
single reefed foresail. 



54 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



January 2. — We had now tolerably pleasant 
weai her. At noon we found ourselves in lati- 
tude 69 deg. 10 min. S., longitude 42 deg. 20 
min. W., having crossed the antarctic circle. 
Very little ice was to be seen to the southward, 
although large fields of it lay behind us. This 
day we rigged some sounding gear, using a 
large iron pot capable of holding twenty gallons, 
and a line of two hundred fathoms. We found 
the current setting to the north, about a quarter 
of a mile per hour. The temperature of the 
air was now about thiity-three. Here we found 
the variation to be 14 deg. 28 min. easterly, per 
azimuth. 

January 5.— -We had still held on to the 
southward without any great impediments. On 
this morning, however, being in latitude 73 
deg. 15 min. E., longitude 42 deg. 10 min. W., 
we were again brought to a stand by an im- 
mense expanse of firm ii e. We saw, neverthe- 
less, much open water to the southward, and 
felt no doubt of being able to reach it even- 
tually. Standing to the eastward along the edge 
of the floe, we at length came to a passage of 
about a mile in width, through which we warped 
our way by sundown. The sea in which we 
now were was thickly covered with ice islands, 
but had no field-ice, and we pushed on boldly 
as before. The cold did not seem to increase, 
although we had snow very frequently, and 
now and then hail squalls of great violence. 
Immense flocks of the albatross flew over the 
schooner this day, going from south-east to 
north-west. 

January 7. — The sea still remained pretty 
well open, so that we had no difficulty in hold- 
ing on our course. To the westward we saw 
some icebergs of incredible size, and in the 
afternoon passed very near one whose summit 
Could not have been less than four hundred 
fathoms from the surface of the ocean. Its 
girth was probably, at the base, three quarters 
of a league, and several streams of water were 
running from crevices in its sides. We re- 
mained in sight of this island two days, and 
then only lost it in a fog. 

January 10. - Early this morning we had the 
misfortune to lose a man overboard. He was 
an American, named Peter Vredenburgh, a 
native of New York, and was one of the most 
valuable hands on board the schooner. In 
going over the bows his foot slipped, and he fell 
between two cakes of ice, never rising again. 
At noon of this day we were in latitude 78 deg. 
30 min., longitude 40 deg 15 min. W. The 
Cold was now excessive, and we had hail squalls 
continually from the northward and eastward. 
In this direction also we saw several more im 
mense icebergs, and the whole horizon to the 
eastward appeared to be blocked up with field- 
ice, rising in tiers, one mass above the other. 
Some driftwood floated by during the evening, 
and a great number of birds flew over, among 
w.dch were nellies, peterels, albatrosses, and a 
large bud of a brilliant blue plumage. The 
variation here, per azimuth, was lesstaanit had 



been previously to our passing the antarctic 
circle. 

January 12. — Our passage to the south again 
looked doubtful, as nothing was to be seen in 
tiie direction of the pole but one apparently 
limitless floe, backed by absolute mountains of 
ragged ice, one precipice of which arose frown- 
ingly above the water. We stood to the west- 
ward until the fourteenth, in the hope of finding; 
an entrance. 

January 14. — This morning we reached the 
western extremity of the field which had im- 
peded us, and, weathering it, came to an open 
sea, witnout a particle of ice. Upon sounding 
with two hundred fathoms, we here found a 
current setting southwardly at the rate of half 
a mile per hour. The temperature of the air 
was forty-seven, that of the water thirty -four- 
We now sailed to the southward, without meet- 
ing any interruption of moment until the six- 
teenth, when, at noon, we were in lat.tude 81 
deg. 21 min., longitude 42 deg. W. We again 
sounded, and found a current setting still south- 
wardly, and at the rate of three quarters of a 
mile per hour. The variation per azimuth had 
diminished, and the temperature of the air was 
mild and pleasant, the thermometer fifty-one. 
At this period not a particle of ice was to be 
discovered. All hands on board now felt cer- 
tain of attaining the pole. 

January 17. — This day was full of incident. 
Innumerable flights of birds flew over us from 
the southward, and several were shot from the 
deck; one of them, a species of pelican, proved 
to be excellent eating. About mid-day a 
small floe of ice was seen from the mast-head 
off the larboard bow, and upon it there appeared 
to be some large animal. As the weather was 
good and nearly calm, Captain Guy ordered out 
two of the boats to see what it was. Dirk 
Peters and myself accompanied the mate in 
the larger boat. U;on coming up with the floe, 
we perceived that it was in the possession of a 
gigantic creature of the race of the arciic bear,. 
but far exceeding in size the largest of these 
animals. Being well armed, we made no 
scruple of attacking it at once. Several shots 
were fired in quick succession, the most of 
which took effect, apparently in the head aud 
body. Nothing discouraged, however, the 
monster threw himself from the ice, and swam, 
with open jaws, to the boat in which were 
Peters and myself. Owing to the confusion 
which ensued among us at this unexpected turn 
of the adventure, no person was ready imme- 
diately with a second shot, and the bear had 
actually succeeded in getting half his vast 
bulk across our gunwale, and seizing one of 
the men by the small of his back, before any 
efficient means were taking to repel him. In 
this extremity nothing but the promptness and 
agility of Peters saved us from destruction. 
Leaping upon the back of the huge beast, he 
plunged the blade of a knife behind the neck, 
reaching the spinai marrow at a blow. The 
brute tumbled into the sea lifeless, and without 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



55 



a struggle, rolling over Peters as he fell. The 
latter soon recovered himself, and a rope being 
thrown him, he secured the carets before en- 
tering the boat. We then returned in triumph 
to the schooner, towing our trophy behind us. 
This bear, upon admeasurement, proved to be 
full fifteen feet in iis greatest length. His wool 
was perfectly white, and very coarse, curling 
tightly. The eyes were of a blood red, and 
larger than those of the arctic bear — the snout 
also more rounded, rather resembling the snout 
of the bull-dog. The meat was tender, but 
excessively rank and fishy, although the men 
devoured it with avidity, and declared it excel- 
lent eating. 

Scarcely had we got our prize alongside, 
when the man at the masthead gave the joyful 
sound of " land on the starboard bow /" All 
hands were now upon the alert, and a breeze 
springing up veiy opportunely from the north- 
ward and eastward, we were soon close in with 
the coast. It proved to be a low rocky islet, 
of about a league in circumference, and alto- 
gether destitute of vegetation, if we except a 
species of prickly pear. In approaching it from 
the northward, a singular ledge of rock is seen 
projertirg into the sea, and bearing a strong 
resemblance to corded bales of cotton. Around 
this ledge to the westward is a small bay, at 
the bottom of which our boats effected a con- 
venient landing. 

It did not take us long to explore every por- 
tion of the island ; but with one exception, we 
found nothing worthy of observation. In the 
southern extremiiy. we picked up, near the 
shore, half buried in a pile of loose stones, a 
piece of wood, which seemed to have formed 
the prow of a canoe. There had been some 
attempt at carving upon it, and Captain Guy 
fancied that he made out tne figure of a tor- 
toise, but the resemblance did not strike me 
forcibly. Besides this prow, if such it were, 
we found no other token that any living creature 
had ever been here before. Around the coa?t 
we discovered occasional small floes of ice ; 
but these were very few. The exact situation 
of this islec (to which Captain Guy gave the 
name of Sennet's Islet, in honour of his partner 
in the ownership of the schoonerj is 82 deg. 
50 min. S. lat.tude, 42 deg. 20 min. W. longi- 
tude. 

We had now advanced to the southward 
more than eight degrees farther than any previ- 
ous navigators, and the sea still lay perfectly 
open before us. We found, too, that the varia- 
tion uniformly decreased as we proceeded, and 
what was still more surprising, that the tempera- 
ture of the air, and latterly of the water, became 
milder. The weather might even be called 
pleasant, and we had a steady but very gentle 
breeze always from some northern point of 
the compass. The sky was usually clear, with 
now and then a slight appearance of thin 
vapour in the southern horizon this, however, 
was invariably of brief duration. Two diffi- 
culties alone presented themselves to our view j 



we were getting short of fuel, and symptoms of 
scurvy had occurred among several of the crew. 
These considerations began to impress upon 
Captain Guy the necessity of returning, and 
he spoke of it frequently. For my own part, 
confident as I was of soon arriving at land of 
some description upon the course we were 
pursuing, and having every reason to believe, 
from present appearances, that we should not 
find it the steril soil met with in the higher arctic 
latitudes, I warmly pressed upon him the expe- 
diency of persevering, at least for a few days 
longer, in the direction we were now holding. 
So tempting an opportunity of solving the great 
problem in regard to an antarctic continent had 
never yet been aff >rded to man, and I confess 
that I felt myself bursting with indignation at 
the timid and ill-timed suggestions of our com- 
mander. I believe, indeed, that what I could 
not refrain from saying to him on this head had 
the effect of inducing him to push on. While, 
therefore, I cannot but lament the most unfor- 
tunate and bloody events which immediately 
arose from my advice, I must still be allowed 
to feel some degree of gratification at having 
been instrumental however remotely, in open- 
ing to the eye of science one of the most in- 
tensely exciting secrets which has ever engrossed 
its attention. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



January 18. — This morning* we continued 
to the southward, with the same pleasant 
weather as before. The sea was entirely 
smooth, the air tolerably warm and from the 
north-east, the temperature of the water fifty- 
three. We now again got our sounding-gear 
in order, and with a hundred and fifty faihomg 
of line, found the current setting towards the 
pole at the rate of a mile an hour. This con* 
stant tendency to the southward, both in the 
wind and current, caused some degree of specu-* 
lation, and even of alarm, in different quarters 
of the schooner, and 1 saw distinctly that no 
little impression had been made upon the mind 
of Captain Guy. He was exceedingly sensi- 
tive to ridicule, however, and I finally suc- 
ceeded in laughing him out of his apprehen- 

* The terras morning and evening, which I have 
made use of to avoid confusion iu my narrative as 
far as possible, must not, of course, be taken in 
their ordinary sense. For a long time past we had 
had no night at all, th« daylight being continual. 
The dates throughout are according to nautical 
time, and the bearings must be understood as per 
compass. I would also remark in this place, that 
I cannot, in the first portion of what is here written, 
pretend to strict accuracy in respect to dates, or 
laiitudes and longitudes, having kept no regular 
journal until alter the period of which this first 
portion treat*. In many instances I have relied 
altogether upon memory. 



56 



THE tfOVEL KEWSPAPER. 



sions. The variation was now very trivial. 
In the course of the day we saw several large 
whales of the right species, and innumerable 
flights of the albatross passed over the vessel. 
We also picked up a bush, full of red berries, 
like those of the hawthorn, and the carcass of 
a singular-looking land animal. It was three 
feet in length, and but six inches in height, 
with four very short legs, the feet armed with 
long claws of a brilliant scarlet, and resembling 
coral in substance. The body was covered 
with a straight silky hair, perfectly white. The 
tail was peaked like that of a rat, and about a 
foot and a half long. The head resembled a 
cat's, with the exception of the ears— these 
were flapped like the ears of a dog. The teeth 
Were of ihe same brilliant scarlet as the claws. 

January 19.— To-day, being in lat. 83 deg. 20 
jnin. Ion. 43 deg. 5 min. W. ( the sea being of an 
extraordinarily dark colour), we saw land from 
the masthead, and upon a closer scrutiny, found 
it to be one of a group of very large islands. 
The shore was precipitous, and the interior 
seemed to be well wooded, a circumstance 
which occasioned us great joy. In about four 
hours from our first discovering the land, we 
came to anchor in ten fathoms, sandy bottom, 
a league from the coast, as a high surf, with 
Strong ripples here and there, rendered a nearer 
approach of doubtful expediency. The two 
largest boats were now ordered out, and a party, 
well armed (among whom were Peters and 
myself), proceeded to look for an opening in 
the reef which appeared to encircle the island. 
After searching about for some time, we dis- 
covered an inlet, which we were entering, when 
we saw four large canoes put off from the shore, 
filled with men who seemed to be well armed. 
"We waited for them to come up, and as they 
moved with great rapidity, they were soon with- 
in hail. Captain Guy now held up a white 
handkerchief on the blade of an oar, when the 
strangers made a full stop, and commenced a 
loud jabbering all at once, intermingled with 
occasional shouts, in which we could distin- 
guish the words Anamoo-moo, and Lama- 
Lama. They continued this for at least half 
an hour, during which we had a good opportu- 
nity of observing their appearance. 

In the four canoes, which might have been 
fifty feet long and five broad, there were a 
hundred and ten savages in all. They were 
about the ordinary stature of Europeans, but 
of a more muscular and brawny frame. Their 
complexion a jet black, with thick and long 
woolly hair. They, were clothed in skins of an 
unknown black animal, shaggj and silky, and 
made to fit the body with some degree of skill, 
the hair being inside, except where turned out 
about the neck, wrists, and ancles. Their arms 
consisted principally of clubs, of a dark, and 
apparently very heavy wood. Some spears, 
however, were observed among them, headed 
with flint, and a few slings. The bottoms of 
the canoes were full of black stones, about the 
Size of a large egg. 



When they had concluded their harangue 
(for it was clear they intended their jabbering 
for such), one of them who seemed to be the 
chief stood up in the prow of his canoe, and 
made signs for us to bring our boats alongside 
of him. This hint we pretended not to under- 
stand, thinking it the wiser plan to maintain, if 
possible, the interval between us, as their 
number more than quadrupled our own. Find- 
ing this to be the case, the chief ordered the 
three other canoes to hold back, while he ad- 
vanced towards us with his own. As soon as 
he came up with us he leaped on board the 
largest of our boats, and seated himself by the 
side of Captain Guy, pointing at the same time 
to the schooner, and repeating the words Ana- 
moo -moo, and Lama-Lama. We now put 
back to the vessel, the four canoes following at 
a little distance. 

Upon getting alongside, the chief evinced 
symptoms of extreme surprise and delight, 
clapping his hands, slapping his thighs and 
breast, and laughing obstreperously. His fol- 
lowers behind joined in his merriment, and for 
some minutes the din was so excessive as to 
be absolutely deafening. Quiet being at length 
restored, Captain Guy ordered the boats to be 
hoisted up, as a necessary precaution, and gave 
the chief (whose name we soon found to be 
Too-wit) to understand that we could admit no 
more than twenty of his men on deck at one 
time. With this arrangement he appeared 
perfectly satisfied, and gave some directions to 
the canoes, when one of them approached, the 
rest remaining about fifty yards off. Twenty 
of the savages now got on board, and pro- 
ceeded to ramble over every part of the deck, 
and scramble about among the rigging, making 
themselves much at home, and examining 
every article with great inquisitiveness. 

It was quite evident that they had never 
before seen any of the white race— from whose 
complexion, indeed, they appeared to recoil. 
They believed the Jane to be a living creature, 
and seemed to be afraid of hurting it with the 
points of their spears, carefully turning them 
up. Our crew were much amused with the 
conduct of Too-wit in one instance. The cook 
was splitting some wood near the galley, and, 
by accident, struck his axe into the deck, 
making a gash of considerable depth. The 
chief immediately ran up, and pushing the 
cook on one side rather roughly, commenced a 
half whine, half howl, strongly indicative of sym- 
pathy in what he considered the sufferings of the 
schooner, patting and smoothing the gash with 
his hand, and washing it from a bucket of sea 
water which stood by. This was a degree of 
ignorance for which we were not prepared, and 
for my part I could not help thinking some of 
it affected. 

When the visitors had satisfied, as well as 
they could, their curiosity in regard to our upper 
works, they were admitted below, when their 
amazement exceeded all bounds. Their asto- 
nishment now appeared to be far too deep 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



57 



for words, for they roamed about in silence, 
broken only by low ejaculations. The arms 
afforded them much food for speculation, and 
they were suffered to handle and examine them 
at leisure. I do not believe that they had the 
least suspicion of their actual use, but rather 
took them for idols, seeing the care we had of 
them, and the attention with which we watched 
their movements while handling them. At the 
great guns their wonder was redoubled. They 
approached them with every mark of the pro- 
foundest reverence and awe, but forbore to 
examine them minutely. There were two large 
mirrors in the cabin, and here was the acme 
of their amazement. Too-wit was the first to 
approach them, and he had got in the middle 
of the cabin, with his face to one and his back 
to the other, before he fairly perceived them. 
Upon raising his eyes and seeing his reflected 
self in the glass, I thought the savage would go 
mad ; but, upon turning short round to make a 
retreat, and beholding himself a second time in 
the opposite direction, I was afraid he would ex- 
pire upon the spot. No persuasions could pre- 
vail upon him to take another look; but, 
throwing himself upon the floor, with his face 
buried in his hands, he remained thus until we 
were obliged to drag him upon deck. 

The whole of the savages were admitted on 
board in this manner, twenty at a time ; Too- 
wit being suffered to remain during the entire 
period. We saw no disposition to thievery 
among them, nor did we miss a single article 
after their departure. Throughout the whole 
of their visit they evinced the most friendly 
manner. There were, however, some points in 
their demeanour which we found it impossible 
to understand : for example, we could not get 
them to approach several very harmless objects 
—such as the schooner's sails, an egg, an open 
book, or a pan of flour. We endeavoured to 
ascertain if they had among them any ar- 
ticles which might be turned to account in 
the way of traffic, but found great difficulty 
in being comprehended. We made out, 
nevertheless, what greatly astonished us, that 
the islands abounded in the large tortoise 
of the Gallipagos, one of which we saw in 
the canoe of Too-wit. We saw also some 
biche-de-mer in "the hands of one of the savages, 
who was greedily devouring it in its natural 
state. These anomalies, for they were such 
when considered in regard to the latitude, in- 
duced Captain Guy to wish for a thorough 
investigation of the country, in the hope of 
making a profitable speculation in his dis- 
covery. For my own part, anxious as I was to 
know something more of these islands, I was 
still more earnestly bent on prosecuting the 
voyage to the southward without delay. We 
had now fine weather, but there was no telling 
how long it would last ; and being already in 
the eighty-fourth parallel, with an open sea 
before us, a current setting strongly to the 
southward, and the wind fair, I could not listen 
with any patience to a proposition of stopping 



longer than was absolutely necessary for the 
health of the crew and the taking on board a 
proper supply of fuel and fresh provisions. I 
represented to the captain that we might easily 
make this group on our return, and winter here 
in the event of being blocked up by the ice. 
He at length came into my views (for in some 
way, hardly known to myself, I had acquired 
much influence over him), and it was finally 
resolved that, even in the event of our finding 
biche-de-mer, we should only stay here a week 
to recruit, and then push on to the southward 
while we might. Accordingly, we made every 
necessary preparation, and, under the guidance 
of Too-wit, got the Jane through the reef in 
safety, coming to anchor about a mile from the 
shore, in an excellent bay, completely land- 
locked, on the south-eastern coast of the main 
island, and in ten fathoms of water, black sandy 
bottom. At the head of this bay there were 
three fine springs (we were told) of good water, 
and we saw abundance of wood in the vicinity. 
The four canoes followed us in, keeping, how- 
ever, at a respectable distance. Too-wit him- 
self remained on board, and, upon our dropping 
anchor, invited us to accompany him on shore, 
and visit his village in the interior. To this 
Captain Guy consented ; and ten savages being 
left on board as hostages, a party of us, twelve 
in all, got in readiness to attend the chief. We 
took care to be well armed, yet without evincing 
any distrust. The schooner had her guns run 
out, her boarding-nettings up, and every other 
proper precaution was taken to guard against 
surprise. Directions were left with the chief 
mate to admit no person on board during our 
absence, and in the event of our not appearing 
in twelve hours, to send the cutter, with a swi- 
vel, round the island in search of us. 

At every step we took inland the conviction 
forced itself upon us that we were in a country 
differing essentially from any hitherto visited by 
civilized men. We saw nothing with which we 
had been formerly conversant. The trees re- 
sembled no growth of either the torrid, the 
temperate, or the northern frigid zones, and 
were altogether unlike those of the lower 
southern latitudes we had already traversed. 
The very rocks were novel in their mass, their 
colour, and their stratification; and the streams 
themselves, utterly incredible as it may appear, 
had so little in common with those of other 
climates, that we were scrupulous of tasting 
them, and, indeed, had difficulty in bringing 
ourselves to believe that their qualities were 
purely those of nature. At a small brook 
which crossed our path (the first we had 
reached) Too-wit and his attendants halted to 
drink. On account of the singular character 
of the water, we refused to taste it, supposing it 
to be polluted ; and it was not until some time 
afterward we came to understand that such was 
the appearance of the stream throughout the 
whole group. I am at a loss to give a distinct 
idea of the nature of this liquid, and cannot do 
so without many words. Although it flowed 



58 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



■frith rapidity in all declivities where common 
Water would do so, yet never, except when 
falling in a cascade, had ii the customary ap- 
pearance of limpidity. It was, nevertheless, in 
point of fact, as perfectly limpid as any lime- 
stone water in existence, the difference being 
only in appearance. At first sight, and espe- 
cially in cases where little declivity was found, 
it bore resemblance, as regards consistency, to 
a thick infusion of gum arabic in common 
water. But this was only the least remaikable 
of its extraordinary qualities. It was not co- 
lourless, nor was it of any one uniform colour 
—presenting to the eye, as it (lowed, every 
possible shade of purple, like the hues of a 
Changeable silk. This variation in shade was 
produced in a manner which excited as pro- 
found astonishment in the minds of our party 
as the mirror had done in the case of Toe-wit. 
Upon collecting a basinful, and allowing it to 
settle thoroughly, we perceived that the whale 
mass of liquid was made up of a number of 
distinct veins, each of a distinct hue ; that 
these veins did not commingle; and that their 
cohesion was perfect in regard to their own 
particles among themselves, and impeifect in 
regard to neighbouring veins. Upon passing 
the blade of a knife athwart the veins, the 
"Water ciosed over it immediately, as with us, 
and also, in withdrawing it, all traces of the 
passage of the knife were instantly obliterated. 
If, however, the blade was passed down accu- 
rately between two veins, a perfect separation 
was effected, which the power of cohesion did 
not immediately rectify. The phenomena of 
this water formed the first definite link in that 
vast chain of apparent mirach s with which I 
was destined to be at length encircled. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



We Were nearly three hours in reaching the 
tillage, it being more th m nine miles in the in- 
terior, and the path lying through a rugged 
Country. As we passed along, the party of 
Too-wit(the whole hundred and ten savages of 
the canoes) was momentarily strengthened by 
Smaller detachmehis, of from two to six or 
Seven, which joined us, as if by accident at 
different turns in the road. There appeared 
So much of system in this that 1 could not help 
feeling distrust, and I spoke to Captain Guy of 
my apprehensions. It was now too late, how- 
ever, to recede, and we concluded that our 
best security lay in evincing a perfect confi- 
dence in the good faith of Too- wit. We ac- 
cordingly went on, keeping a wary eye upon the 
manoeuvres of the savages, and not permitting 
them to divide our numbers by pushing in 
between. In this way, passing through a pre- 
cipitous ravine, we ai length reacheuwa.it wc 
"Were told was the only collection of habita- 



tions upon the island. As we came in sight of 
them, the chief set up a show, and frequently 
repeated the word Klock-Klock ; which we 
supposed to be tne name of the village, or per- 
haps the generic name for villages. 

The dwellings * ere of ihe most miserable 
description imaginable, and, unlike those of 
even the lowest of the savage races with which 
mankind are acquainted, were of no uniform 
plan. Some of them (and these we lound 
belonged to the Wampoos or Yampoos, the 
great men of the land; consisted of a tree cut 
down at about four feet Irom the root, with a 
large black skin thrown over it, and hanging in 
loose folds upon the ground. Umler this the 
savage nestled. Others were formed by means 
of rough limbs of trees, with the withered 
foliage upon them, made to recline, at a i angle 
of forty-five degrees, against a bank of clay, 
heaped up, without regular form, to the height 
of five or six feet. Others, again, were mere 
holes dug in the earth perpendicularly, and 
covered over with similar branches, tuese 
being removed when the tenant was about to 
enter, and pulled on again when he had en- 
tered. A few were built among the forked 
limbs of trees as they stoud. the upper limbs 
being partially cut through, so as to bend over 
upon the lower, thus forming thicker shelter 
from the weather. I he greater number, h nv- 
ever, consisted of small shallow cavern?, appa- 
rently scratched in the face of a precipitous 
ledge of dark stone, resembling fullers-earth, 
with which three sides of the village was 
bounded. At the door of each of these pri- 
mitive caverns was a small rock, which the 
tenant carefully placed before the entrance 
upon leaving his residence, for what purpose I 
could not ascertain, as the stone itself was 
never of sufficient size to close up more than 
one-third of the opening. 

This village, if it were worthy of the name, 
lay in a Valley of some depth, nd could only 
be approached from the southward, the preci- 
pitous ledge of which I have already spoken 
cutting off all access in other directions. 
Through the middle of the valley ran a brawl- 
ing stream of the same magical-looking water 
which has been described. We saw several 
strange animals about the dwellings, all ap- 
pearing to be thoroughly domesticated. The 
largest of these creatures resembled our com- 
mon hog in the structure of the bo iy and snout ; 
the tail, however, was bu.-hy, and the lets 
slender as those of the antelope. Its motion 
was exceedingly awkward and indecisive, and 
we never saw it attempt to run. We noticed 
also several animals very similar in appearance, 
but of a greater length of body, and covered 
with a black wool. There were a variety of 
tame fowls running about, and these seemed to 
constitute the chief food of the natives. To 
our astonishment we saw black albatross among 
ihese biidsin a state of entire domestication, 
going to sea periodically for food, but always 
returning to the village as a home, and using 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



59 



the southern shore in the vicinity as a place of 
incubation. There they were joined by their 
friends, the pelicans, as usual, but these latter 
never followed them to the dwellings of the 
savages. Among the other kinds of tame fowls 
were ducks, differing very little from the can- 
vass-back of our own country, black gannets, 
and a large bird not unlike the buzzard in ap- 
pearance, but not carnivorous. Of fish there 
seemed to be a great abundance. We saw, 
during our visit, a quantity of dried salmon, 
rock cod, blue dolphins, mackerel, black fish, 
skate, conger-eels, elephant-fish, mullets, soles, 
parrot -fish, leather-jackets, gurnards, hake, 
flounders, paracutas, and innumerable other 
varieties. We noticed, too, that most of them 
were similar to the fish about the group of the 
Lord Auckland Islands, in a latitude as low as 
fifty-one degrees south. The Gallipago tortoise 
was also very plentiful. We saw but a few 
wild animals, and none of a large size, 
or of a species with which we were fa- 
miliar. One or two serpents of a formidable 
aspect crossed our path, but the natives paid 
them little attention, and we concluded that they 
were not venomous. 

As we approached the village with Too-wit 
and his party, a vast crowd of the people rushed 
out with loud shouts, among which we could 
only distinguish the everlasting Anamoo-moo I 
and Lama-Lama ! We were much surprised at 
perceiving that, with one or two exceptions, 
these new comers were entirely naked, the 
«kms being used only by the men of the canoes. 
All the weapons of the country seemed also to 
be in the possession of the latter, for there was 
no appearance of any among the villagers. 
There were a great many women and children, 
the former not altogether wanting in what 
might be termed personal beauty. They were 
1 straight, tall, and well-formed, with a grace and 
freedom of carriage not to be found in civilised 
j society. Their lips, however, like those of the 
I men, were thick and clumsy, so that, even 
: when laughing, the teeth were never disclosed. 
Their hair was of a finer texture than that of 
the males. Among these naked villagers there 
j might have been ten or twelve who were 
' clothed, like the party of Too-wit, in dresses of 
black skin, and armed with lances and heavy 
clubs. These appeared to have great influence 
among the rest, and were always addressed by 
I the title Wumpoo. These, too, were the tenants 
j of the black-skin palaces. 1 hat of Too-wit 
j was situated in the centre of the village, and 
was much larger and somewhat better oon- 
| structed than others of its kind. The tree 
which formed its support was cut off at a dis- 
tance of twelve feet or thereabout from the 
1 *oot, and there were several branches left just 
below the cut, these serving to extend tie 
covering, and in this way prevent its flapping 
about the truak. The covering too, whicu con 
Sisted of four very large skins fastened together 
with wooden skewers, was secured at the boi to;n 
With pegs driven through it and into the ground. 



The floor was strewed with a quantity of dry 
leaves by way of carpet. 

To this hut we were conducted with great so- 
lemnity, and as many of the natives crowded 
in after us as possible. Too-wit seated himself 
on the leaves, and made signs that we should 
follow his example. This we did. and presently 
found ourselves in a situation peculiarly un- 
comfortable, if not, indeed, critical. We were 
on the ground, twelve in number, with the sa- 
vages, as many as forty, sitting on their hams 
so closely around us, that if any disturbance 
had arisen, we should have found it impossible 
to make use of our arms, or indeed to have 
risen on our feet. The pressure was not only 
inside the tent, but outside, where probably was 
every individual on the whole island, the crowd 
being prevented from trampling us to death 
only by the incessant exertions and vocifera- 
tions of Too-wit. Our chief security lay, how- 
ever, in the presence of Too-wit himself among 
us, and we resolved to stick by him closely, as 
the best chance of extricating ourselves from 
the dilemma, sacrificing him immediately upon 
the first appearance of hostile design. 

After some trouble a certain degree of quiet 
was restored, when the chief addressed us in a 
speech of great length, and very nearly resemb- 
ling the one delivered in the canoes, with the 
exception that the Anamoo-moos ! were now 
somewhat more strenuously insisted upon than 
Lama- Lamas •' We listened in profound silence 
until the conclusion of his harangue, when 
Captain Guy replied by assuring the chief of 
his eternal friendship and good- will, conclud- 
ing what he had to say by a present of several 
strings, of blue beads and a knife. At the 
former the monarch, much to our surprise, 
turned up his nose with some expression of 
contempt ; but the knive gave him the most 
unlimited satisfaction, and he immediately or- 
dered dinner. This was handed into the tent 
over the heads of the attendants, and consisted 
of the palpitating entrails of a species of un- 
known animai, probably one of the slim-legged 
hogs which we had observed in our approach 
to the village. Seeing us at a loss how to pro- 
ceed, he began, by way of setting us an ex- 
ample, to devour yard alter yard of the enticing 
food, until we could positively stand it no 
longer, evincing such manifest symptoms of re- 
bellions of stomach as inspired his majesty 
with a degree of astonishment only inferior to 
that brought about by the looking-glasses. We 
declined, however, partaking of the delicacies 
before us, and endeavoured to make him un- 
derstand that we had no appetite whatever, 
having just finished a hearty dejeuner. 

vVuen the monarch had made an end of his 
meal, we commenced a series of cross-ques- 
tioning in every ingenious manner we could 
devise, with a view of discovering what were 
the «hief productions of the country, and whe- 
ther any of them might be turned to profit. 
A i length he seemed to have some idea of our 
meaning, and offered to accompany us to a part 



60 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER, 



of the coast, where he assured us the biche-de- 
mer (pointing to a specimen of that animal) 
•was to be found in great abundance. We were 
glad at this early opportunity of escaping from 
the oppression of the crowd, and signified our 
eagerness to proceed. We now left the tent, 
and, accompanied by the whole p >pulation of 
the village, followed the chief to the south- 
eastern extremity of the island, not far from 
the bay where our vessel lay at anchor. We 
waited here about an hour, until the four 
canoes were brought round by some of the 
savages to our station. The whole of our party 
then getting into one of them, we were paddled 
along the edge of the reef before mentioned, 
and of another still farther out, where we saw 
a far greater quantity of biche-de mer than the 
oldest seaman amongst us had ever seen in those 
groups of the lower latitudes most celebrated for 
this article of commerce. We stayed near these 
reefs only long enough to satisfy ourselves that 
we could easily load a dozen vessels, if necessary, 
with the animal, and when we were taken 
alongside the schooner, and parted with Too- 
wit, after obtaining from him a promise that he 
would bring us, in the course of twenty-four 
hours, as many of the canvass -back ducks and 
Gallipago tortoises as his canoes would hold. 
In the whole of this adventure we saw nothing 
in the demeanour of the natives calculated to 
create suspicion, with the single exception of 
the systematic manner in which their party was 
strengthened during our route from the schooner 
to the village. 



CHAPTER XX. 



The chief was as good as his word, and we 
were soon plentifully supplied with fresh pro- 
vision. We found the tortoises as fine as we 
had ever seen, and the ducks surpassed our best 
species of wild fowl, being exceedingly tender, 
juicy, and well- flavoured. Beside these, the 
savages brought us, upon our making them 
comprehend our wishes, a vast quantity of 
brown celery and scurvy grass, with a canoe- 
load of fresh fish and some dried. The celery 
was a treat indeed, and the scurvy grass proved 
of incalculable benefit in restoring those of our 
men who had shown symptoms of disease. In 
a very short time we had not a single person 
on the sick-list. We had also plenty of other 
kinds of fresh provision, among which may be 
mentioned a species of shellfish resembling the 
mussel in shape, but with the taste of an oyster. 
Shrimps, too, and prawns, were abundant, and 
albatross and other birds' eggs with [dark 
shells. We took in, too, a plentiful stock of 
the flesh of the hog which I have mentioned 
before. Most of the men found it a palatable 
food, but I thought it fishy and otherwise dis- 
agreeable. In return for these good things, we 



presented the natives with blue beads, bras 3 
trinkets, nails, knives, and pieces of red cloth> 
they being fully delighted in the exchange. 
We established a regular market on shore, just 
under the guns of the schooner, where our bar- 
terings were carried on with every appearance 
of good faith and a degree of order which their 
conduct at the village of Klockklock had not 
led us to expect from the savages 

Matters went on thus very amicably for 
several days, during which parties of the natives 
were frequently on board the schooner, and 
parties of our men frequently on shore, making 
long excursions into the interior, and receiving 
no molestation whatever. Finding the ease 
with which the vessel might be loaded with 
biche-de-mer, owing to the friendly disposition 
of the islanders, and the readiness with which 
they would render us assistance in collecting it, 
Captain Guy resolved to enter into negociation 
with Too-wit for the erection of suitable houses 
in which to cure the article, and for the services 
of himself and tribe in gathering as much as 
possible, while he himself took advantage of 
the fine weather to prosecute his voyage to the 
southward. Upon mentioning this project to 
the chief, he seemed very willing to enter into 
an agreement. A bargain was accordingly 
struck, perfectly satisfactory to both parties, by 
which it was arranged that, after making the 
necessary preparations, such as laying off the 
proper grounds, erecting a portion of the build- 
ings, and doing some other work in which the 
whole of our crew would be required, the 
schooner should proceed on her route, leaving 
three of her men on the island to superintend the 
fulfilment of the project, and instruct the natives 
in drying the biche-de-mer. In regard to terms, 
these were made to depend upon the exertions 
of the savages in our absence. They were to 
receive a stipulated quantity of blue beads, 
knives, red cloth, and so forth, for every cer- 
tain number of piculs of the biche-de-mer 
which should be ready on our return. 

A description of the nature of this important 
article of commerce, and the method of pre- 
paring it, may prove of some interest to my 
readers, and I can find no more suitable place 
than this for introducing an account of it. The 
following comprehensive notice of the substance 
is taken from a modern history of a voyage to 
the South Seas. 

" It is that mollusca from the Indian seas 
which is known in commerce by the French 
name bouche-de-mer (a nice morsel from the 
sea). If I am not much mistaken, the cele- 
brated Cuvier calls it gasteropeda pulmonifera. 
It is abundantly gathered on the coasts of the 
Pacific Islands, and gathered especially for the 
Chinese market, where it commands a great 
price, perhaps as much as their much-talked-of 
edible birds' nests, which are probably made up 
of the gelatinous matter picked up by a species 
of swallow from the body of these molluscie. 
They have no shell, no legs, nor any prominent 
part, except an. absorbing ^and an .excretory, 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



61 



opposite organs ; but, by their elastic wings, 
like caterpillars or worms, they creep in 
shallow water, in which, when low, they 
can be seen by a kind of swallow, the sharp 
bill of which, inserted in the soft animal, 
draws a gummy and filamentous substance, 
which, by drying, can be wrought into the solid 
walls of their nest. Hence the name of gastero- 
peda pulmonifera. 

" This mollusca is oblong, and of different 
sizes, from three to eighteen inches in length ; 
and I have seen a few that were not less than 
two feet long. They are nearly round, a little 
flatfish on one side, which lies next the bottom 
of the sea ; and they are from one to eight 
inches thick. They crawl up into shallow 
water at particular seasons of the year, pro- 
bably for the purpose of gendering, as we often 
find them in pairs. It is when the sun has the 
most power on the water, rendering it tepid, 
that they approach the shore ; and they often 
go up into places so shallow, that on the tide's 
receding they are left dry, exposed to the heat 
of the sun. But they do not bring forth their 
young in shallow water, as we never see any of 
their progeny, and the full grown ones are 
always observed coming in from deep water. 
They feed principally on that class of zoophytes 
which produce the coral. 

" The biche-de-mer is generally taken in three 
or four feet water ; after which they are brought 
on shore, and split at one end with a knife, the 
incision being one inch or more, according to 
the size of the mollusca. Through this open- 
ing the entrails are forced out by pressure, 
and they are much like those of any othersmall 
tenant of the deep. The article is then washed, 
and afterward boiled to a certain degree, which 
must not be too much or too little. They are 
then buried in the ground for tour hours, then 
boiled again for a short time, after which they 
are dried, either by the fire or the sun. Those 
cured by the sun are worth the most ; but 
where one picul (133£ lbs) can be cured that 
way, I can cure thirty piculs by the fire. 
When once properly cured, they can be kept in 
a dry place for two or three years without any 
risk; but they should be examined once in 
every few months, say four times a year, to see 
if any dampness is likely to affect them. 

"The Chinese, as before stated, consider 
biche-de-mer a very great luxury, believing 
that it wonderfully strengthens and nourishes 
the system, and renews the exhausted system 
of the immoderate voluptuary. The first 
quality commands a high price in Canton, being 
worth ninety dollars a picul ; the second 
quality seventy-five dollars ; the third fifty 
dollars; the fourth thirty dollars; the fifth 
twenty dollars; the sixth twelve dollars; the 
seventh eight dollars; and the eighth four 
dollars; small cargoes, however, will often 
bring more in Manilla, Singapore, and Batavia." 

An agreement having been thus entered into, 
we proceeded immediately to land every thing 
necessary for preparing the buildings and clear- 



ing the ground. A large flat space near the 
eastern shore of the bay was selected, where 
there was plenty both of wood and water, and 
within a convenient distance of the principal 
reefs on which the biche-de-mer was to be pro- 
cured. We now all set to work in good earnest, 
and soon, to the great astonishment of the 
savages, had felled a sufficient number of trees 
for our purpose, getting them quickly in order 
for the framework of the houses, which in two 
or three days were so far under way that we 
could safely trust the rest of the work to the 
three men whom we intended to leave behind. 
These were John Carson, Alfred Harris, and 
Peterson (all natives of London, I be- 
lieve), who volunteered their services in this 
respect. 

By the last of the month we had every thing 
in readiness for departure. We had agreed, 
however, to pay a formal visit of leavetaking 
to the village, and Too-wit insisted so pertina- 
ciously upon our keeping the promise, that we 
did not think it advisable to run the risk of 
offending him by a final refusal. I believe that 
not one of us had at this time the slightest sus- 
picion of the good faith of the savages. They 
had uniformly behaved with the greatest deco- 
rum, aiding us with alacrity in our work, offer- 
ing us their commodities frequently without 
price, and never, in any instance, pilfering a 
single article although the high value they set 
upon the goods we had with us was evident by 
the extravagant demonstrations of joy always 
manifested upon our making them a present. 
The women especially were most obliging in 
every respect, and, upon the whole, we should 
have been the most suspicious of human beings 
had we entertained a single thought of perfidy 
on the part of a people who treated us so well. 
A very short while sufficed to prove that this 
apparent kindness of disposition was only the 
result of a deeply-laid plan for our destruction, 
and that the islanders for whom we entertained 
such inordinate feelings of esteem were among 
the most barbarous, subtle, and blood-thirsty 
wretches that ever contaminated the face of the 
globe. 

It was on the first of February that we went 
on shore for the purpose of visiting the village. 
Although, as said before, we entertained not 
the slightest suspicion, still no proper precau- 
tion was neglected. Six men were left in the 
schooner with instructions to permit none of 
the savages to approach the vessel during our 
absence under any pretence whatever, and to 
remain constantly on deck. The boarding- 
nettings were up, the guns double-shotted with 
grape and canister, and the swivels loaded with 
canisters of musket balls. She lay, with 
her anchor apeak, about a mile from the shore, 
and no canoe could approach her in any direc- 
tion without being distinctly seen and exposed 
to the full fire of our swivels immediately. 

The six men being left on board, our shore- 
party consisted of thirty-two persons in all. 
We were armed to the teeth, having with ty? 



m 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



muskets, pistols, and cutlasses, besides each a 
long kind of seaman's knife, somewhat resem- 
bling the Bowie-knife now so much used 
throughout our western and southern country. 
A hundred of the black-skin warriors met us 
at the landing, for the purpose of accompanying 
us on our way. We noticed, however, with 
some surprise, that they were now entirely 
-without arms ; and, upon questioning Too-wit 
in relation to this circumstance, he merely 
answered that Mattee non we pa pa si — mean- 
ing that there was no need of arms where all 
were brothers. We took this in good part, and 
proceeded. 

We had passed the spring and rivulet of 
which I before spoke, and were now entering 
upon a narrow gorge leading through the chain 
of soapstone hills among which the village was 
situated. This gorge was very rocky and un- 
even, so much so that it was with no little dif- 
ficulty we scrambled through it on our first visit 
to Klock-klock. The whole length of the 
xavine might have been a mile and a half, or 
probably two miles. It wound in every possi- 
ble direction through the hills (having appa- 
rently formed at some remote period the bed of 
a toirent), in no instance proceeding more than 
twenty yards without an abrupt turn. The 
sides of this dell would have averaged, I am 
-Sure, seventy or eighty feet in perpendicular alti- 
tude throughout the whole of their extent, and 
in some portions they arose to an astonishing 
height, overshadowing the pass so completely 
'that but little of the light of day could 
penetrate. The general width was about 
forty feet, and occasionally it diminished so as 
not to allow the passage of more than rive or six 
persons abreast. In short, there could be no 
place in the world better adapted for the con- 
summation of an ambuscade, and it was no more 
than natural that we should look carefully to 
•our arms as we entered upon it. When I now 
think of our egregious folly, the chief subject 
of astonishment seems to be thut we should have 
ventured, under any circumstances, so com- 
pletely into the power of unknown savages as 
to permit them to march both before and behind 
us in our progress through this ravine. Yet 
such was the order we blindly took up, trusting 
foolishly to the force of our party, the unarmed 
condition of Too-wit and his men, the certain 
•efficacy of our fire-arms (whose effect was yet a 
secret to the natives), and more than all, to the 
long-sustained pretensions of friendship kept up 
by these infamous wretches. Five or six of 
them went on before as if to lead the way, os- 
tentatiously busying themselves in removing 
the larger stones and rubbish from the path. 
Next came our own party. We walked closely 
together, taking care only to prevent sepa- 
ration. Behind followed the main body of the 
savages, observing unusual order and decorum 

Dirk Peieis, a man named Wilson Allen, 
and myself, were on the right of our com- 
panions, examining, as we went along, the 
«ingular stratification of the precipice which 



overhung us. A fissure in the soft rock at- 
tracted our attention. It was about wide enough 
for one person to enter without squeezing, and 
extending back into the hill some eighteen or 
twenty feet in a straight course, sloping after- 
ward to the left. The height of the opening, as 
far as we could see into it from the main gorge, 
was perhaps sixty or seventy feet. There was 
one or two stunted shrubs growing from the 
crevices, bearing a species of filbert, which I 
felt some curiosity to examine, and pushed in 
briskly for that purpose, gathering five or six of 
the nuts at a grasp, and then hastily retreating. 
As I turned, I found that Allen and Peters fol- 
lowed me. I desired them to go back, as there 
was not room for two persons to pass, saying 
they should have some of my nuts. They ac- 
cordingly turned, and were scrambling back, 
Allen being close to the mouth of the fissure, 
when I was suddenly aware of a concussion re- 
sembling nothing I had ever before experienced, 
and which impressed me with a vague concep- 
tion, if, indeed, 1 then thought of any thing, that 
the whole foundations of the solid globe were 
suddenly rent asunder, and that the day of uni- 
versal dissolution was at hand. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



As soon as I could collect my scattered senses 
I found myself nearly suffocated, and grovelling 
in utter darkness among a quantity of loose 
earth, which was also falling upon me heavily 
in every direction, threatening to bury me en- 
tirely. Horribly alarmed at this idea, i strug- 
gled to gain my feet, and at length succeeded. 
I then remained motionless for some moments, 
endeavouring to conceive what had happened 
to me, and where I was. Presently I heard a 
deep groan just at my ear, and afterward the 
smothered voice of Peters calling to me for aid 
in the name of God. I scrambled one or two 
paces forward, when I fell directly over the head 
and shoulders of my companion, who, I soon 
discovered, was buried in a loose mass of earth 
as far as his middle, and struggling desperate y 
to free himself from the pressure. I tore the 
dirt from around him with all the energy 1 could 
command, and at length succeeded in getting 
him out. 

As soon as we sufficiently recovered from our 
fright and surprise to be capable of conversing 
rationally, we both came to the conclusion that 
thewalls of the fissure in which we had ventured 
had, by some convulsion of nature, or probably 
from their own weight, caved in overhead, and 
that we were consequently lost for ever, being 
thus entombed alive. For a long time we ave 
up supinely to the most intense agony and de- 
spair, such as cannot be adequately imagined 
by those who have never been in a similar si- 
tuation. 1 firmly believe that no incident ever 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



63 



occurring in the course of human events is more 
adap'ed to inspire the supremeness of mental 
and bodily distress than a case like our own, 
of living inhumation, i he blackness of dark- 
ness which envelopes the victim, the terrific 
oppression of lungs, ihe stifling fumes of the 
damp earth, unite with the ghastly conside- 
rations that we are beyond the remotest confines 
of hope, and that .Mich is ihe allotted portion of 
the dead, to carry into the human heart a degree 
of appalling awe and horror not to be tolerated 
—never to be conceived. 

At length Peters proposed that we should 
endeavour to ascertain precisely the extent of 
our calamity, and grupe about our prison, it 
being barely possible, he observed, that some 
opening might be yet left us for escape. I 
caught eagerly at this hope, and, arousing myself 
to exertion, attempted to force my way tnrough 
the loose earth. Hardly had 1 advanced a 
single siep before a glimmer of light became 
perceptible, enough to convince me that, at all 
events, we should not immediately perish for 
■want of air. We now took some degree of 
heart, and encouraged each other to hope for 
the best. Having scrambled over a bank of 
rubbish which impeded our fartlier progress in 
the direction of the light, we found le s diffi- 
culty in advancing, and also experienced some 
relief from tne excessive oppression of lungs 
■which had tormented Us. Presently we were 
enabled to obtain a glimpse of the objects 
around, and discovered that we were near the 
extremity of the straight portion of the fissure, 
where it made a turn to the left. A few strug- 
gles more, and we reached the bend, when, to 
our inexpressible joy, there appeared a long 
seam or crack extending upward a vast distance, 
generally at an angle of about forty-five degrees, 
although sometimes more precipitous. We 
could not see through the whole extent of this 
opening ; but, as a good deal of light came down 
it, we hid little doubt of finding at the top of it 
(if we could by any means reach the top) a clear 
passage into the open air. 

I now called to mind that three of us had en- 
tered the fissure from the main gorge, and that 
our companion, Allen, was still missing ; we de- 
termined at once to retrace our steps and look 
for him. After a long search, and much danger 
from the farther caving in of the earth above 
■us, Peters at length cried out to me that he had 
hold of our companion's foot, and that his whole 
body was deeply buried beneath the rubbish, 
beyond a possibility of extricaiirg him. I soon 
found that what he had said was too true, and 
that, of course, lilehad been long extinct. With 
sorrowful hearts, therefore, we left the corpse 
to its fate, and again made our way to the bend. 
The breadth of the seam was barely sufficient 
to admit us, and, after one or two ineffectual 
efforts at getting up, we began once more to 
despair. I have before said that the chain of 
hills through which ran the main gorge, was 
composed of a species of soft ruck resembling 
Soapstone. The sides of the eleit we were now 



attempting to ascend were of the same material,, 
and so excessively slippery, being wet, that we 
could get but little foothold upon them even in 
their least precipitous parts ; in some places, 
where the ascent was nearly perpendicular, the 
difficulty was, of course, much aggravated ; and, 
indeed, for some time we thought it insur- 
mountable. We took courage, however, from 
despair; and what, by dint of cutting steps in 
the soft stone with our bowie-knives, and cling- 
ing, at the risk of our lives, to small projecting 
points of a harder species of slaty rock which 
now and then protruded from the general mass, 
we at length reached a natural platform, from 
which was perceptible a patch of blue sky, at 
the extremity of a thickly-wooded ravine. 
Looking back now, with somewhat more lei- 
sure, at the passage through which we had thus 
far proceeded, we clearly saw, from the appear- 
ance of its sides, that it was of late formation, 
and we concluded that the concussion, whatever 
it was, which had so unexpectedly overwhelmed 
us, had also, at the same moment, laid open 
this path for escape. Being quite exhausted 
with exertion, and, indeed, so weak that we 
were scarcely able to stand or articulate, Peters 
now proposed that we should endeavour to 
bring our companions to the rescue by firing the 
pistols which still remained in our girdles — the 
muskets as well as cutlasses had been lost among 
the loose earth at the bottom of the chasm. 
Subsequent events proved that, had we fired, we 
should have sorely repented it; but luckily a. 
half suspicion of foul play had by this time arisen 
in my mind, and we forbore to let the savages 
know of our whereabouts. 

After having reposed for about an hour, we 
pushed on slowly up the ravine, and had gone 
no great way before we heard a succession of 
tremendous yells. At length we reached what 
might be called the surface of the ground ; for 
our path hitherto, since leaving the platform, had 
lain beneath an archway of high rock and foliage, 
at a vast distance overhead. With great caution 
we stole to a narrow opening, through which 
Ave had a clear sight of the surrounding country, 
when the whole dreadful secret of the concussion 
broke upon us in one moment and at one View. 
The spot from which we looked was not fur 
from the summit of the highest peak in the range 
of the soapstone hills. The gorge in which oUr 
party of thirty-two had entered ran within filty 
feet to the left of us. But, for at least one 
hundred yards, the channel or bed of this gorge 
was entirely filled up with the chaotic rums of 
more than a million tons of earth and stone that 
had been artificially tumbled within it. The 
means by wh'ch the vast mass had been preci- 
pitated were not more simple than evident, for 
sure traces of the murderous work were yet 
remaining. In several spots along the top of 
the eastern side of the gorge (we were now on 
the western) might be seen stakes of wood 
driven into the earth. In these spots the earfh 
had not given way ; but throughout the whole 
extent of the tace of the precipice from which. 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



64 

the mass had fallen, it was clear, from marks 
left in the soil resembling those made by the 
drill of the rock-blaster, that stakes similar to 
those we saw standing had been inserted, at not 
more than a yard apart, for the length, perhaps, 
of three hundred feet, and ranging at about ten 
feet back from the edge of the gulf. Strong 
cords of grape-vine were attached to the stakes 
still remaining on the hill, and it was evident 
that such cords had also been attached to each 
of the other stakes. 1 have already spoken of 
the singular stratification of these soapstone 
hills; and the description just given of the nar- 
row and deep fissure through which we effected 
our escape from inhumation will afford a further 
conception of its nature. This was such, that 
almost every natural convulsion would be sure 
to split the soil into perpendicular layers or 
ridges running parallel with one another ; and a 
very moderate exertion of art would be suffi- 
cient for effecting the same purpose. Of this 
stratification the savages had availed themselves 
to accomplish their treacherous end. There can 
be nodoubt that, by the continuous line of stakes, 
a partial rupture of the soil had been brought 
about, probably to the depth of one or two feet, 
when, by means of a savage pulling at the end 
of each of the cords (these cords being attached 
to the tops of the stakes, and extending back to 
the edge of the cliff), a vast leverage power was 
obtained, capable of hurling the whole face of 
the hill, upon a given signal, into the bosom of 
the abyss below. The fate of our poor com- 
panions was no longer a matter of uncertainty. 
We alone had escaped from the tempest of that 
overwhelming destruction. We were the only 
living white men upon the island. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



Our situation, as it now appeared, was 
scarcely less dreadful than when we had con- 
ceived ourselves entombed for ever. We saw 
before us no prospect but that of being put to 
death by the savages, or of dragging out a mi- 
serable existence in captivity among them. We 
might, to be sure, conceal ourselves for a time 
from their observation among the fastnesses of 
the hills, and, as a final resort, in the chasm from 
which we had just issued ; but we must either 
perish in the long Polar winter through cold and 
famine, or be ultimately discovered in our ef- 
forts to obtain relief. 

The whole country around us seemed to be 
swarming with savages, crowds of whom, we 
now perceived, had come over from the islands 
to the southward on flat rafts, doubtless with a 
riew of lending their aid in the capture and 
plunder of the Jane. The vessel still lay 
calmly at anchor in the bay, those on board 
being quite unconscious of any danger await- 
ing them. How we longed at that moment 



to be with them ! either to aid in effecting thef r 
escape or to perish with them in attempting a 
defence. We saw no chance even of warning 
them of their danger without bringing immediate 
destruction upon our own heads, with but a 
remote hope of benefit to them. A pistol fired 
might suffice to apprize them that something 
wrong had occurred ; but the report could not 
possibly inform them that their only prospect of 
safety lay in getting out of the harbour forthwith 
— it could nut tell them that no principles of 
honour now bound them to remain, that their 
companions were no longer among the living. 
Upon hearing the discharge, they could not be 
more thoroughly prepared to meet the foe who 
were now getting ready to attack, than they 
already were, and always had been. No good, 
therefore, and infinite harm, would result from 
our firing, and, after mature deliberation, we 
forbore. 

Our next thought was to attempt a rush to- 
wards the vessel, to seize one of the four canoes 
which lay at the head of the bay, and endeavour 
to force a passage on board. But the utter im- 
possibility of succeeding in this desperate task 
soon became evident. The country, as I said 
before, was literally swarming wiih the natives, 
skulking among the bushes and recesses of the 
hills, so as not to be observed from the schooner. 
In our immediate vicinity especially, and block- 
ading the sole path by which we could hope to 
attain the shore in the proper point, were sta- 
tioned the whole party of the black-skin war- 
riors, with Too wit at their head, and appa- 
rently only waiting for some re-enforcement to 
commence his onset upon the Jane. The canoes, 
too, which lay at the head of the bay, were 
manned with savages, unarmed, it is true, but 
who undoubtedly had arms within reach. We 
were forced, therefore, however unwillingly, to 
remain in our place of concealment, mere spec- 
tators of the conflict which presently ensued. 

In about half an hour we saw some sixty or 
seventy rafts, or flatboats, with outriggers, filled 
with savages, and coming round the southern 
bight of the harbour. They appeared to have 
no arms except short clubs, and stones which 
lay at the bottom of the rafts. Immediately 
afterward another detachment, still larger, ap- 
proached in an opposite direction, and with 
similar weapons. The four canoes, too, were 
now quickly filled with natives, starting up from 
the bushes at the head of the bay, and put off 
swiftly to join the other parties. Thus, in less 
time than I have taken to tell it, as if by magic, 
the Jane saw herself surrounded by an immense 
multitude of desperados, evidently bent upon 
capturing her at all hazards. 

That they would succeed in so doing could 
not be doubted for an instant. The six men 
left in the vessel, however resolutely they might 
engage in her defence, were altogether unequal 
to the proper management of the guns, or in 
any manner to sustain a contest at such odds. 
I could hardly imagine that they would make 
resistance at all, but in this I was deceived, for 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



65 



presently I saw them get springs upon the cable, 
and bring the vessel's starboard broadside to 
bear upon the canoes, which by this time were 
within pistol range, the rafts being nearly a 
quarter of a mile to windward. Owing to some 
cause unknown, but most probably to the agi- 
tation of our poor friends at seeing themselves 
in so hopeless a situation, the discharge was an 
entire failure. Not a canoe was hit or a single 
savage injured, the shots striking short and rico- 
cheting over their heads. The only effect produced 
upon them was astonishment at the unexpected 
report and smoke, which was so excessive that 
for some moments I almost thought they would 
abandon their design and return to the shore. 
And this they would most likely have done had 
our men followed up their broadside by a dis- 
charge of small arms, in which, as the canoes 
were now so near at hand, they could not have 
failed in doing some execution— sufficient, at 
least, ,to deter this party from a further advance, 
until they could have given the rafts also a 
broadside. But, in place of this, they left the 
canoe party to recover from their panic, and 
by looking about them to see that no injury had 
been sustained, while they flew to the larboard 
to get ready for the rafts. 
♦%/fhe discharge to larboard produced the most 
terrible effect. The star and double-headed 
shot of the large guns cut seven or eight of the 
rafts completely asunder, and killed, perhaps, 
thirty or forty of the savages outright, while a 
hundred of them, at least, were thrown into the 
water, and most of them dreadfully wounded. 
The remainder, frightened out of their senses, 
commenced at once a most precipitate retreat, 
not even waiting to pick up their maimed com- 
panions, who were swimming about in every 
direction, screaming and yelling for aid. This 
great success, however, came too late for the 
salvation of our devoted people. The canoe 
party were already on board the schooner to 
tlie number of more than a hundred and fifty, 
the most of them having succeeded in scramb- 
ling up the chains and over the boat-ding nettings 
even before the matches had been applied to 
the larboard guns. Nothing could now with- 
stand their brute rage. Our men were borne 
down at once, overwhelmed, trodden under foot, 
and absolutely torn to pieces in an instant. 

Seeing this, the savages on the rafts got the 
better of their fears, and came up in shoals to 
plunder. In five minutes the Jane was a pi- 
tiable scene indeed of havoc and tumultuous 
outrage. The decks were split open and ripped 
up ; the cordage, sails, and every thing move- 
able on deck demolished as if by magic ; 
while, by dint of pushing at the stern, towing 
with the canoes, and hauling at the sides as they 
swam in thousands around the vessel, the 
wretches finally forced her on shore (the cable 
having been slipped), and delivered her over to 
the good offices of Too-wit, who, during the 
whole of the engagement, had maintained, like 
a skilful general, his post of security and recon- 
noisance among the hills ; but, now that the vic- 

SUPPLEMBNT TO THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER 



tory was completed to his satisfaction, conde- 
scended to scamper down with his warriors of 
the black skin, and become a partaker in the 
spoils. 

Too- wit's descent left us at liberty to quit 
our hiding-place, and reconnoitre the hill in the 
vicinity of the chasm. At about fifty yards 
from the mouth of it we saw a small spring of 
water, at which we slaked the burning thirst 
which now consumed us. Not far from the 
spring we discovered several of the filbert- 
bushes which I mentioned before. Upon 
tasting the nuts we found them palatable, and 
very nearly resembling in flavour the common 
English filbert. We collected our hats full im- 
mediately, deposited them within the ravine, 
and returned for more. While we were busily 
employed in gathering these; a rustling in the 
bushes alarmed us, and we were upon the point 
of stealing back to our covert, when a large 
black bird of the bittern species strugglingly 
and slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so 
much startled that I could do nothing, but 
Peters had sufficient presence of mind to run 
up to it before it could make its escape, and 
seize it by the neck. Its struggles and screams 
were tremendous, and we had thoughts of 
letting it go, lest the noise should alarm some 
of the savages who might be still lurking in 
the neighbourhood. A stab with a bowie-knife, 
however, at length brought it to the ground, 
and we dragged it into the ravine, congratu- 
lating ourselves that, at all events, we had thus 
obtained a supply of food enough to last us for 
a week. 

We now went out again to look about us, 
and ventured a considerable distance down the 
southern declivity of the hill, but met with 
nothing else which could serve us for food. 
We therefore collected a quantity of dry wood 
and returned, seeing one or two large parties of 
the natives on their way to the village, laden 
with the plunder of the vessel, and who, we 
were apprehensive, might, discover us in passing 
beneath the hill. 

Our next care was to render our place of 
concealment as secure as possible, and, with 
this object, we arranged some brushwood over 
the aperture which I have before spoken of as 
the one through which we saw the patch of 
blue sky, on reaching the platform from the in- 
terior of the chasm. We left only a very small 
opening, just wide enough to admit of our see- 
ing the bay, without the risk of being discovered 
from below. Having done this, we congratu- 
lated-ourselves upon the security of the position ; 
for we were now completely excluded from ob- 
servation, as long as we chose to remain within 
the ravine itself, and not venture out upon the 
hill. We could perceive no traces of the sa- 
vages having ever been within this hollow ; but, 
indeed, when we came to refluct upon the pro- 
bability that the fissure through which we at- 
tained it had been only just now created by the 
fall of the cliff opposite, and that no other way 
of attaining it could be perceived, we were not 
, No. 145. 



66 

so much rejoiced at the thought of being secure 
from molestation as fearful lest there should be 
absolutely no means left us for descent. We 
resolved to explore the summit of the hill tho- 
roughly when a good opportunity should offer. 
In the mean time we watched the motions of 
the savages through our loophole. 

They had already made a complete wreck of 
the vessel, and were now preparing to set her 
on fire. In a little while we saw the smoke 
ascending in huge volumes from her main 
hatchway, and shortly afterward a dense mass 
of flame burst up from the forecastle. The 
rigging, masts, and what remained of the sails 
caught immediately, and the fire spread rapidly 
along the decks. Still a great many of the 
savages retained their stations about her, ham- 
mering with large stones, axes, and cannon 
"balls at the bolts and other copper and iron 
work. On the beach, and in canoes and rafts, 
there were not less, altogether, in the immediate 
vicinity of the schooner, than ten thousand 
natives, besides the shoals of them, who, laden 
with booty, were making their way inland and 
over to the neighbouring islands. We now an- 
ticipated a catastrophe, and were not disap- 
pointed. First of all there came a smart shock 
(which we felt distinctly where we were, as if 
we had been slightly galvanised), but unattended 
with any visible signs of an explosion. The 
Savages were evidently startled, and paused for 
an instant from their labours and yellings. 
They were upon the point of recommencing, 
when suddenly a mass of smoke puffed up 
from the decks, resembling a black and heavy 
thunder-cloud — then, as if from its bowels, 
arose a tall stream of vivid fire to the height, 
apparently, of a quarter of a mile — then there 
came a sudden circular expansion of the flame 
—then the whole atmosphere was magically 
crowded, in a single instant, with a wild chaos 
of wood, and metal, and human limbs— and, 
lastly, came the concussion in its fullest fury, 
which hurled us impetuously from our feet, 
while the hills echoed and re-echoed the tumult, 
and a dense shower of the minutest fragments 
of the ruins tumbled headlong in every direc- 
tion around us. 

The havoc among the savages far exceeded 
our utmost expectation, and they had now, 
indeed, reaped the full and perfect fruits of 
their treachery. Perhaps a thousand perished 
by the explosion, while at least an equal num- 
ber were desperately mangled. The whole 
surface of the bay was literally strewn with 
the struggling, drowning wretches, and on shore 
matters were even worse. They seemed ut- 
terly appalled by the suddenness and complete- 
ness of their discomfiture, and made no efforts 
at assisting one another. At length we ob- 
served a total change in their demeanour. From 
absolute stupor they appeared to be, all at once, 
aroused to the highest pitch of excitement, and 
rushed wildly about, going to and from a cer- 
tain point on the beach, with the strangest ex- 
pressions of mingled horror, rage, and intense 



THE ttOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



curiosity depicted oil their countenances, and 
shouting, at the top of their voices, Tekeli-li I 
Tekeli-li ! 

Presently we saw a large body go off into 
the hills, whence they returned in a short time, 
carrying stakes of wood. These they brought 
to the station where the crowd was the thickest, 
which now separated so as to afford us a view 
of the object of all this excitement. We per- 
ceived something white lying on the ground, 
but could not immediately make out what it 
was. At length we saw that it was the carcass 
of the strange animal with the scarlet teeth and 
claws, which the schooner had picked up at 
sea on the eighteenth of January. Captain 
Guy had had the body preserved for the pur- 
pose of stuffing the skin and taking it to Eng- 
land. I remember he had given some direc- 
tions about it just before our making the island, 
and it had been brought into the cabin and 
stowed away in one of the lockers. It had 
now been thrown on shore by the explosion; 
but why it had occasioned so much concern 
among the savages was more than we could 
comprehend. Although they crowded around 
the carcass at a little distance, none of them 
seemed willing to approach it closely. By- 
and-by the men with the stakes drove them in 
a circle around it, and no sooner was this ar- 
rangement completed than the whole of the 
vast assembly rushed into the interior of the 
island, with loud screams of Tekeli-li ! Tekeli-li ! 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

During the six or seven days immediately 
following we remained in our hiding-place upon 
the hill, going out only occasionally, and then 
with the greatest precaution, for water and Al- 
berts. We had made a kind of pent-house on 
the platform, furnishing it with a bed of dry 
leaves, and placing in it three large flat stones, 
which served us for fire-place and table. We 
kindled afire without difficulty by rubbing two 
pieces of dry wood together, the one soft and 
the other hard. The bird we had taken in such 
good season proved excellent eating, although 
somewhat tough. It was not an oceanic fowl, 
but a species of bittern, with jet black and 
grizzly plumage, and diminutive wings in pro- 
portion to its bulk. We afterward saw three of 
the same kind in the vicinity of the ravine, ap- 
parently seeking for the one we had captured ; 
but, as they never alighted, we had no oppor- 
tunity of catching them. 

As long as this fowl lasted we suffered nothing 
from our situation ; but it was now entirely 
consumed, and it became absolutely necessary 
that we should look out for provision. The 
filberts would not satisfy the cravings of hunger, 
afflicting us too with severe gripings of the 
bowels, and if freely indulged in, with violent 



ADVENTURES OP ARTHUR GORDON fYM. 



leadache. We had seen several large tortoises 
tear the sea- shore to the eastward of the hill, 
nd perceived they might be easily taken, if we 
ould get at them without the observation of 
be natives. It was resolved, therefore, to 
nake an attempt at descending. 

We commenced by going down the southern 
'eclivity, which seemed to offer the fewest 
ifficulties, but had not proceeded a hundred 
ards before (as we had'anticipated from ap- 
earances on the hill-top) our progress was 
ntirely arrested by a branch of the gorge in 
■ hich our companions had perished. We now 
assed along the edge of this for about a quar- 
er of a mile, when we were again stopped by 

precipice of immense depth, and not being 
ble to make our way along the brink of it, we 
, r ere forced to retrace our steps by the main 
ivine. 

We now pushed over to the eastward, but 
,'ith precisely similar fortune. After an hour's 
:ramble, at the risk of breaking our necks, we 
iscovered that we had merely descended into 
vast pit of black granite, with fine dust at the 
ottom, and whence the only egress was by the 
lgged path in which we had come down, 
oiling again up this path, we now tried the 
orthern edge of the hill. Here we were 
bliged to use the greatest possible caution in 
ur manoeuvres, as the least indiscretion would 
xpose us to the full view of the savages in the 
llage. We crawled along, therefore, on our 
vnds and knees, and occasionally were even 
>rced to throw ourselves at full length, 
ragging our bodies along by means of the 
lrubbery. In this careful manner we had 
roceeded but a little way, when we arrived at 
chasm far deeper than any we had yet seen, 
nd leading directly into the main gorge. Thus 
tir fears were fully confirmed, and we found 
urselves cut off entirely from access to the 
-orld below. Thoroughly exhausted by our 
xertions, we made the best of our way back 
.) the platform, and, throwing ourselves upon 
ie bed of leaves, slept sweetly and soundly for 
jme hours. 

For several days after this fruitless search, 
;e were occupied in exploring every part of 
ie summit of the hill, in order to inform our- 
elves of its actual resources. We found that 
, would afford us no food, with the exception 
f the unwholesome filberts, and a rank species 
f scurvy grass which grew in a little patch of 
ot more than four rods square, and would be 
pon exhausted. On the 15th of February, as 
ear as lean remember, there was not a blade 
f this left, and the nuts were growing scarce ; 
ur situation, therefore, could hardly be more 
imentable * On the 16th we again went round 
ie walls of our prison, in hope of finding some 
venue of escape, but to no purpose. We also 
ascended the chasm in which we had been 

* This day was rendered remarkable by our ob- 
^rving in the south several huge wreaths of the 
reyish vapour I have before spoken of. 



67 

overwhelmed, with the faint expectation of 
discovering, through this channel, some open- 
ing to the main ravine. Here, too, we were 
disappointed, although we found and brought 
up with us a musket. 

On the 17th we set out with the determination 
of examining more thoroughly the chasm of 
black granite into which we had made our way 
in the first search. We remembered that one 
of the fissures in the sides of this pit had been 
but partially looked into, and we were anxious 
to explore it, although with no expectation of 
discovering here any opening. 

We found no great difficulty in reaching the 
bottom of the hollow as before, and were now 
sufficiently calm to view it with some attention. 
It was, indeed, one of the most singular- look- 
ing places imaginable, and we could scarcely 
bring ourselves to believe it altogether the work 
of nature. The pit, from its eastern to its 
western extremity, was about five hundred 
yards in length, when all its windings were 
threaded ; the distance from east to west in a 
straight line not being more (I should suppose, 
having no means of accurate examination) 
than forty or fifty yards. Upon first descend- 
ing into the chasm, that is to say, for a hundred 
feet downward from the summit of the hill, the 
sides of the abyss bore little resemblance to each 
other, and, apparently, had at no time been 
connected, the one surface being of soapstone 
and the other of marl, granulated with some 
metallic matter. The average breadth, or in- 
terval between the two cliffs, was probably 
here sixty feet ; but there seemed to be no regu- 
larity of formation. Passing down, however, 
beyond the limit spoken of, the interval rapidly 
contracted, and the sides began to run parallel, 
although for some distance farther they were 
still dissimilar in their material and form of 
surface. Upon arriving within fifty feet of the 
bottom, a perfect regularity commenced. The 
sides were now entirely uniform in substance, 
in colour, and in lateral direction, the material 
being a very black and shining granite, and the 
distance between the two sides, at all points 
facing each other, exactly twenty yards. The 
precise formation of the chasm will be best 
understood by means of a delineation taken 
upon the spot ; for I had luckily with me a 
pocket-book and pencil, which I preserved with 
great care through a long series of subsequent 
adventure, and to which I am indebted for 
memoranda of many subjects which would 
otherwise have been crowded from my remem- 
brance. 

This figure (see figure 1) gives the general 
outlines of the chasm, without the minor 
cavities in the sides, of which there were 
several, each cavity having a corresponding 
protuberance opposite The bottom of the 
gulf was covered, to the depth of three or four 
inches, with a powder almost impalbable, be- 
neath which we found a continuation of the 
black granite. To the right, at the lower 
extremity, will be noticed the appearance of a 



68 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



Figure 1. 




small opening; this is the fissure alluded to 
above, and to examine which more minutely 
than before was the object of our second visit. 
We now pushed into it with vigour, cutting 
away a quantity of brambles which impeded 
v.s, and removing a vast heap of sharp flints 
somewhat resembling arrow-heads in shape. 
We were encouraged to persevere, however, by 
perceiving some little light proceeding from the 
farther end. We at length squeezed our way 
for about thirty feet, and found that the aper- 
ture was a low and regularly-formed arch, 
having a bottom of the same impalpable powder 
as that in the main chasm. A strung light now 
broke upon us, and, turning a short bend, we 
found ourselves in another lofty chamber, 
similar to the one we had left in every respect 
but longitudinal form. Its general figure is 
here given. (See figure 2.; 

Figure 2. 




The total length of this chasm, commencing 
at the opening a, and proceeding round the curve 
b to the extremity d, is five hundred and fifty 
yards. At c we discovered a small aperture 
similar to the one through which we had issued 
from the other chasm, and this was choked up 
in the same manner with brambles and a quan- 
tity of the white arrow-head flints. We forced 
our way through it, finding it about forty feet 



long, and emerged into a third chasm. This 

too, was precisely like the first, except in its 

longitudinal shape, which was thus. (See 
figure 3.) 



Figure 3. 



Figure 5. 




We found the entire length of the chasm 
three hundred and twenty yards. At the point 
a was an opening about six feet wide, and ex- 
tending fifteen feet into the rock, where it ter- 
minated in abed of marl, there being no other 
chasm beyond, as we had expected. We were 
about leaving this fissure, into which very little 
light was admitted, when Peters called my 
attention to a range of singular-looking inden- 
tures in the surface of the marl forming the 
termination of the cul-de-sac. With a ve:y 
slight exertion of the imagination, the left, or 
most northerly of these indentures, might have 
been taken for the intentional, although rude, 
representation of a human figure standing 
erect, with outstretched arm. The rest of the n 
bore also some little resemblance to alphabetic il 
characters, and Peters was willing, at all events, 
to adopt the idle opinion that they were really 
such. I convinced him of his error, finally, 
by directing his attention to the floor of the 
fissure, where, among the powder, we picked 
up, piece by piece, several large flakes of the 
marl, which had evidently been broken off by 
some convulsion from the surface where the in- 
dentures were found, and which had projecting 
points exactly fitting the indentures ; thui 
proving them to have been the work of nature. 
Figure 4 presents an accurate copy of the 
whole. 



Figure 4. 



to 



A3 



7K*3W 



After satisfying ourselves that these singular 
caverns afforded us no means of escape from 
our prison, we made our way back, dejected 
and dispirited, to the summit of the hill. 
Nothing worth mentioning occuired during the 
next twenty-four hours, except that, in examin- 
ing the ground to the eastward of the third 
chasm, we found two triangular holes of great 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



69 



depth, and also with black granite sides. Into 
these holes we did not think it worth while to 
attempt descending, as they had the appearance 
of mere natural wells, without outlet. They 
were each about twenty yards in circumference, 
and their shape, as well as relative position in 
regard to the third chasm, is shown in figure 5. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

On the twentieth of the month, finding it 
impossible to subsist any longer upon the fil- 
berts, the use of which occasioned us the most 
excruciating torment, we resolved to make a 
desperate attempt at descending the southern 
declivity of the hill. The face of the precipice 
was here of the softest species of soapslone, 
although nearly perpendicular throughout its 
whole extent (a depth of a hundred and fifty 
feet at least), and in many places even over- 
arching. After long search, we discovered a 
narrow ledge about twenty feet below the brink 
of the gulf; upon this Peters contrived to leap, 
with what assistance 1 could render him by 
means of our pocket-handkerchiefs tied to- 
gether. With somewhat more difficulty I also 
got down ; and we then saw the possibility of 
descending the whole way by the process in 
which we had clambered up from the chasm 
when we had been buried by the fall of the hill 
— that is, by cutting steps in the face of the 
soapstone with our knives. The extreme 
hazard of the attempt can scarcely be con- 
ceived ; but as there was no other resource, we 
determined to undertake it. 

Upon the ledge where we stood there grew 
some filbert bushes; and to one of these we 
made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs. 
The other end being tied round Peters' waist, 
I lowered him down over the edge of the preci- 
pice until the handkerchiefs were stretched 
tight. He now proceeded to dig a deep hole in 
the soapstone (as far in as eight or ten inches), 
sloping away the rock above to the height of a 
foot, or thereabout, so as to allow of his driving, 
with the butt of a pistol, a tolerably strong peg 
into the levelled surface. I then drew him up 
for about four feet, when he made a hole similar 
to the one below, driving in a peg as before, and 
having thus a resting-place for both feet and 
hands. I now unfastened the handkerchiefs 
from the bush, throwing him the end, which we 
tied to the peg in the uppermost hole, letting 
himself down gently to a station about three 
feet lower than he had yet been, that is, to the 
full extent of the handkerchiefs. Here he dug 
another hole, and drove another peg. He then 
drew himself up, so as to rest his feet in the 
hole just cut, taking hold with his hands upon 
the peg in the one above. It was now necessary 
to untie the handkerchiefs from the topmost 
peg, with the view of fastening them to the 



second ; and here he found that an error had 
been committed in cutting the holes at so great 
a distance apart. However, after one or two 
unsuccessful and dangerous attempts at reaching 
the knot (having to hold on with his left hand 
while he laboured to undo the fastening with 
his right), he at length cut the string, leaving 
six inches of it affixed to the peg, and descended 
to a station below the third, taking care not to 
go too far down. By these means (means 
which I should never have conceived of my- 
self, and for which we were indebted al- 
together to Peters's ingenuity and resolution) 
my companion finally succeeded, with the occa- 
sional aid of projections in the cliff, in reaching 
the bottom without accident. 

It was some time before I could summon suf- 
ficient resolution to follow him ; but I did at 
length attempt it. Peters had taken off his shirt 
before descending, and this, with my own, 
formed the rope necessary for the adventure. 
After throwing down the musket found in the 
chasm, I fastened this rope to the bushes, and 
let myself down rapidly, striving, by the vigour 
of my movements, to banish the trepidation 
which I could overcome in no other manner. 
This answered sufficiently well for the first four 
or five steps ; but presently I found my imagi- 
nation growing terribly excited by thoughts of 
the vast depth yet to be descended, and the pre- 
carious nature of the pegs and soapstone holes 
which were my only support. It was in vain I 
endeavoured to banish these reflections, and to 
keep my eyes steadily bent upon the flat surface 
of the cliff before me. The more earnestly I 
struggled not to think, the more intensely vivid 
became my conceptions, and the more horribly 
distinct. At length arrived that crisis of fancy, 
so fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in which 
we begin to anticipate the feelings with whnh 
we shall fall — to picture to ourselves the sick- 
ness, and dizziness, and the last struggle, and 
the half-swoon, and the final bitterness of t!ie 
rushing and headlong descent. And now I found 
these fancies creating their own realities, and 
all imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact. 
I felt my knees strike violently against each 
other, while my fingers were gradually, yet cer- 
tainly, relaxing their grasp. There was a ringing 
in my ears, and I said, " This is my knell of 
death !" And now 1 was consumed with the 
irrepressible desire of looking below. I could 
not, I would not, confine my glances to the cliff; 
and, with a wild, indefinable emotion, half of 
horror, half of a relieved oppression, I threw 
my vision far down into the abyss. For one 
moment my fingers clutched convulsively upon 
their hold, while, with the movement, the faint- 
est possible idea of ultimate escape wandered, 
like a shadow, through my mind — in the next, 
my whole soul was pervaded with a longing 
to fall ; a desire, a yearning, a passion utterly 
uncontrollable. I let go at once my grasp upon 
the peg, and turning half round from the preci- 
pice, remained tottering for an instaut against 
its naked face But now there came a spinning 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



70 

of the brain. ! a shrill sounding and phantom 
voice screamed within my eyes; a dusky, fiend- 
ish, and filmy figure stood immediately beneath 
me ; and, sighing, 1 sunk down with a bursting 
heart, and plunged within its arms. 

I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as 
I fell. He had observed my proceedings from 
his station at the bottom of the cliff; and per- 
ceiving my imminent danger, had endeavoured 
to inspire me with courage by every suggestion 
he could devise ; although my confusion of 
mind had been so great as to prevent my hearing 
what he said, or being conscious that he had 
even spoken to me at all. At length, seeing 
me totter, he hastened to ascend to my rescue, 
and arrived just in time for my preservation. 
Had I fallen with my full weight, the rope of 
linen would inevitably have snapped, and I 
should have been precipitated into the abyss ; 
as it was, he contrived to let me down gently, 
so as to remain suspended without danger until 
animation returned. This was in about fifteen 
minutes. On recovery, my trepidation had 
entirely vanished ; I felt a new being, and, with 
some little further aid from my companion, 
reached the bottom also in safety. 

We now found ourselves not far from the 
ravine which had proved the tomb of our friends, 
and to the southward of the spot where the hill 
had fallen. The place was one of singular 
wildness, and its aspect brought to my mind the 
descriptions given by travellers of those dreary 
regions marking the site of degraded Babylon. 
Not to speak of the ruins of the disruptured 
cliff, which formed a chaotic barrier in the vista 
to the northward, the surface of the ground in 
every other direction was strewn with huge 
tumuli, apparently the wreck of some gigantic 
structures of art ; although, in detail, no sem- 
blance of art could be detected. Scoria were 
abundant, and large shapeless blocks of the 
black granite, intermingled with others of marl*, 
and both granulated with metal. Of vegetation 
there were no traces whatever throughout the 
whole of the desolate area within sight. Several 
immense scorpions were seen, and various rep- 
tiles not elsewhere to be found in the high lati- 
tudes. 

As food was our most immediate object, we 
resolved to make our way to the sea-coast, 
distant not more than half a mile, with a view 
of catching turtle, several of which we had ob- 
served from our place of concealment on the 
hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards, 
threading our route cautiously between the huge 
rocks and tumuli, when, upon turning a corner, 
five savages sprung upon us from a small 
cavern, felling Peters to the ground with a blow 
from a club. As he fell, the whole party rushed 
upon him to secure their victim, leaving me time 
to recover from my astonishment. I still had 
the musket, but the barrel had recsived_so much 

* The marl was also black; indeed, we noticed no 
light-coloured substances of any kind upon the is- 
laud. 



injury in being thrown from the precipice that 
I cast it aside as useless, preferring to trust to 
my pistols, which had been carefully preserved 
in order. With these I advanced upon the as- 
sailants, firing one after the other in quick suc- 
cession. Two savages fell, and one, who was 
in the act of thrusting a spear into Peters, 
sprung to his feet without accomplishing his 
purpose. My companion being thus released, 
we had no further difficulty. He had his pis- 
tols also, but prudently declined using them, 
confiding in his great personal strength, which 
far exceeded that of any person I have ever 
known. Seizing a club from one of the savages 
who had fallen, he dashed out the brains of the 
three who remained, killing each instantane- 
ously with a single blow of the weapon, and 
leaving us completely masters of the field. 

So rapidly had these events passed, that we 
could scarcely believe in their reality, and were 
standing over the bodies of the dead in a 
species of stupid contemplation, when we were 
brought to recollection by the sound of shouts 
in the distance. It was clear that the savages 
had been alarmed by the firing, and that we 
had little chance of avoiding discovery. To 
regain the cliff, it would be necessary to proceed 
in the direction of the shouts ; and even should 
we succeed in arriving at its base, we should 
never be able to ascend it without being seen. 
Our situation was one of the greatest peril, and 
we were hesitating in which path to commence 
a flight, when one of the savages whom I had 
shot, and supposed to be dead, sprang briskly 
to his feet, and attempted to escape. We over- 
took him, however, before he had advanced 
many paces, and were about to put him to 
death, when Peters suggested that we might 
derive some benefit from forcing him to accom- 
pany us in our attempt to escape. We therefore 
dragged him with us, making him understand 
that we would shoot him if he offered resistance. 
In a few minutes he was perfectly submissive, 
and ran by our sides as we pushed in among the 
rocks, making for the sea-shore. 

So far, the irregularities of the ground we 
had been traversing hid the sea, except at inter- 
vals, from our sight, and, when we first had it 
fairly in view, it was perhaps two hundred 
yards distance. As we emerged into the open 
beach we saw, to our great dismay, an immense 
crowd of the natives pouring from the village, 
and from all visible quarters of the island, 
making towards us with gesticulations of ex- 
treme fury, and howling like wild beasts. We 
were upon the point of turning upon our steps, 
and trying to secure a retreat among the fast- 
nesses of the rougher ground, when I discovered 
the bows of two canoes projecting from behind 
a large rock which ran out into the water. 
Towards these we now ran with all speed, and 
reaching them, found them unguarded, and with- 
out any other freight than three of the large 
Gallipago turtles, and the usual supply ol 
paddles for sixty rowers. We instantly took 
possession of one of them, and forcing our. 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



71 



captive on board, pushed out to sea with all the 
strength we could command. 

We had not made, however, more than fifty 
yards from the shore before we became suffi- 
ciently calm to perceive the great oversight of 
which we had been guilty in leaving the other 
canoe in the power of the savages, who, by this 
time, were not more than twice as far from the 
beach as ourselves, and were rapidly advancing 
in pursuit. No time was now to be lost. Our 
hope was, at best, a forlorn one ; but we had 
none other. It was very doubtful whether, 
with the utmost exertion, we could get back in 
time to anticipate them in taking possession of 
the canoe ; but yet there was a chance that we 
could. We might save ourselves if we suc- 
ceeded, while not to make the attempt was to 
resign ourselves to inevitable butchery^ 

The canoe was modelled with the bw and 
stern alike, and, in place of turning it round, 
we merely changed our position in paddling. 
As soon as the savages perceived this they 
redoubled their yells as well as their speed, and 
approached with inconceivable rapidity. We 
pulled, however, with all the energy of" despe- 
ration, and arrived at the contested point before 
more than one of the natives had attained it. 
This man paid dearly for his superior agility, 
Peters shooting him through the head with a 
pistol as he approached the shore. The fore- 
most among the rest of his party were probably 
some twenty or thirty paces distant as we 
seized upon the canoe. We, at first, endea- 
voured to pull her into deep water, beyond the 
reach of the savages, but, finding her too firmly 
aground, and there being no time to spare, 
Peters, with one or two heavy strokes from the 
butt of the musket, succeeded in dashing out a 
large portion of the bow and of one side. We 
then pushed off. Two of the natives by this 
time had got hold of our boat, obstinately re- 
fusing to let go, until we were forced to des- 
patch them with our knives. We were now 
clear off, and making great way out to sea. 
The main body of the savages, upon reaching 
the broken canoe, set up the most tremendous 
yell of rage and disappointment conceivable. 
In truth, from every thing I could see of these 
wretches, they appeared to be the most wicked, 
hypocritical, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and alto- 
gether fiendish race of men upon the face of 
the globe. It is clear we should have had no 
mercy had we fallen into their hands. They 
made a mad attempt at following us in the 
fractured canoe, but finding it useless, again 
vented their rage in a series of hideous vocife- 
rations, and rushed up into the hills. 

We were thus relieved from immediate 
danger, but our situation was still sufficiently 
gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the kind 
we had were at one time in the possession of 
the savages, and were not aware of the fact 
(afterward ascertained from our captive) that 
two of these had been blown to pieces in the 
explosion of the Jane Guy. We calculated, 
therefore, upon being [yet pursued, as soon 



as our enemies could get round to the bay 
(distant about three miles) where the boats 
were usually laid up. Fearing this, we made 
every exertion to leave the island behind us, 
and went rapidly through the water, forcing 
the prisoner to take a paddle. In about half 
an hour, when we had gained, probably, five 
or six miles to the southward, a large fleet of 
the flat-bottomed canoes or rafts was seen to 
emerge from the bay, evidently with the design 
of pursuit. Presently^ they put back, despair- 
ing to overtake us. 

We now found ourselves in the wide and 
desolate antarctic ocean, in a latitude exceed- 
ing eighty-four degrees, in a frail canoe, and 
with no provision but the three turtles. The 
long Polar winter, too, could not be considered, 
as far distant, and it became necessary that we 
should deliberate well upon the course to be 
pursued. There were six or seven islands in 
sight belonging to the same group, and distant 
from each other about five or six leagues ; but 
upon neither of these had we any intention to 
venture. In coming from the northward in 
the Jane Guy we had been gradually leaving 
behind us the severest regions of ice — this, 
however little it may be in accordance with. 
the generally- received notions respecting the 
antarctic, was a fact experience would not per- 
mit us to deny. To attempt, therefore, getting 
back, would be folly, especially at so late a 
period of the season. Only one course seemed 
to be left open for hope. We resolved to steer 
boldly to the southward, where there was at 
least a probability of discovering other lands, 
and more than a probability of finding a still 
milder climate. 

So far we had found the antarctic, like the 
Arctic Ocean, peculiarly free from violent 
storms or immoderately rough water ; but our 
canoe was, at best, of frail structure, although 
large, and we set busily to work, with a view of 
rendering her as safe as the limited means in 
our possession would admit. The body of the 
boat was of no better material than bark— the 
bark of a tree unknown. The ribs were of a 
tough osier, well adapted to the purpose for 
which it was used. We had fifty feet room 
from stem to stern, from four to six in breadth, 
and in depth throughout four feet and a half — 
the boats thus differing vastly in shape from 
those of any other inhabitants of the southern 
ocean with whom civilised nations are ac- 
quainted. We never did believe them the 
workmanship of the ignorant islanders who 
owned them; and some days after this period 
discovered, by questioning our captive, that 
they were, in fact, made by the natives of a 
group to the south-west of the country where 
we found them, having fallen accidentally into 
the hands of our barbarians. What we could 
do for the security of our boat was very little 
indeed. Several wide rents were discovered 
near both ends, and these we contrived to patch 
up with pieces of woollen jacket. With the help 



n 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



of the superfluous paddle, of which there were 
a great many, we erected a kind of framework 
about the bow, so as to break the force of any 
seas which might threaten to fill us in that 
quarter. We also set up two paddle-blades for 
masts, placing them opposite each other, one by 
each gunwale, thus saving the necessity of a 
yard. To these masts we attached a sail made 
of our shirts, doing this with some difficulty, 
as here we could get no assistance from our 
prisoner whatever, although he had been willing 
enono-h to labour in all the other operations. 
The sight of the linen seemed to affect him in 
a singular manner. He could not be prevailed 
upon to touch it or go near it, shuddering when 
we attempted to force him, and shrieking out 
Tekelili. 

Having completed our arrangements in regard 
to the security of the canoe, we now set sail to 
the south-south-east for the present, with the 
view of weathering the most southerly of the 
group in sight. This being done, we turned 
the bow full to the southward. The weather 
could, by no means, be considered disagreeable. 
We had a prevailing and very gentle wind for 
the northward, a smooth sea, and continual day- 
light. No ice whatever was to be seen ; nor 
did I ever see one particle of this after leaving 
the parallel of Bennet's Islet. Indeed, the 
temperature of the water was here far too 
warm for its existence in any quantity. Having 
killed the largest of our tortoises, and obtained 
from him not only food, but a copious supply of 
water, we continued on our course, Avithout 
any incident of moment for perhaps seven or 
eight days, during which period we must have 
proceeded a vast distance to the southward, as 
the wind blew constantly with us, and a very 
strong current set continually in the direction 
we were pursuing. 

March 1.* — Many unusual phenomena now 
indicated that we were entering upon a region 
of novelty and wonder. A high range of light 
grey vapour appeared constantly in the southern 
horizon, flaring up occasionally in lofty streaks 
— now darting from east to west, now from west 
to east, and again presenting a level and uni- 
form summit — in short, having all the wild 
variations of the aurora borealis. The average 
height of this vapour, as apparent from our sta- 
tion, was about twenty-five degrees. The tem- 
perature of the sea seemed to be increasing 
momentarily, and there was a Yery perceptible 
alteration in its colour. 

March 2. — To-day, by repeated questioning 
of our captive, we came to the knowledge of 
many particulars in regard to the island of the 
massacre, its inhabitants, and customs; but 
with these how can I now detain the reader ? 
I may say, however, that we learned there were 
eight islands in the group — that they were 

* For obvious reasons I cannot pretend to strict 
accuracy in these dates. They are given principally 
•with a view to perspicuity of narration, and as set 
dfe>\vn in my pencil memoranda. 



governed by a common king, named Tsalemon 
or Psalemoun, who resided in one of the 
smallest of the islands — that the black skins 
forming the dress of the warriors came from an 
animal of huge size to be found only in a 
valley near the court of the king — that the in- 
habitants of the group fabricated no other boats 
than the flat-bottomed rafts; the four canoes 
being all of the kind in their possession, and 
these having been obtained by mere accident 
from some large island to the south-west— that 
his own name was Nu-Nu — that he had no know- 
ledge of Bennet's Islet — and that the appella- 
tion of the island we had left was Tsalal. The 
commencement of the words Tsalemon and 
Tsalal was given with a prolonged hissing 
sound, which we found it impossible to imitate, 
even after repeated endeavours, and which was 
precisely the same with the note of the black 
bittern we had eaten upon the summit of the 
hill. 

March 3.-— The heat of the water was now 
truly remarkable, and its colour was undergoing 
a rapid change, being no longer transparent, but 
of a milky consistency and hue. In our imme- 
diate vicinity it was usually smooth, never so 
rough as to endanger the canoe — but we were 
frequently surprised at perceiving, to our light 
and left, at different distances, sudden and ex- 
tensive agitations of the surface — these, we at 
length noticed, were always preceded by wild 
flickerings in the region of vapour to the south- 
ward. 

March 4.— To-day, with the view of widen- 
ing our sail, the breeze from the northward 
dying away perceptibly, I took from my coat- 
pocket a white handkerchief. Nu-Nu was 
seated at my elbow, and the linen accidentally 
flaring in his face, he became violently affected 
with convulsions. These were succeeded by 
drowsiness and stupor, and low murmurings of 
Tekelili! Tekeli-li ! 

March 5. — The wind had entirely ceased, but 
it was evident that we were still hurrying on to 
the southward, under the influence of a power- 
ful current. And now, indeed, it would seem 
reasonable that we should experience some 
alarm at the turn events were taking ; but we 
felt none. The countenance of Peters indi- 
cated nothing of this nature, although it wore 
at times an expression I could not fathom. The 
Polar winter appeared to be coming on ; but 
coming without its terrors. I felt a numbness 
of body and mind ; a dreaminess of sensation ; 
but this was all. 

March 6. — The grey vapour had now arisen 
many more degrees above the horizon, and was 
gradually losing its grey n ess of tint. The heat 
of the water was extreme, even unpleasant to 
the touch, and its milky hue was more evident 
than ever. To-day a violent agitation of the 
water occurred very close to the canoe. It was 
attended, as usual, with a wild flaring up of 
the vapour at its summit, and a momentary 
division at its base. A fine white powder, re- 
sembling ashes— but certainly not such— fell 



ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM, 



73, 



over the canoe and over a large surface of the 
water, as the flickering died away among the 
vapour, and the commotion subsided in the sea. 
Nu-Nu now threw himself on his face in the 
bottom of the boat, and no persuasions could 
induce him to arise. 

March 7.— This day we questioned Nu-Nu 
concerning the motives of his countrymen in 
destroying our companions; but he appeared 
to be too utterly overcome by terror to afford 
us any rational reply. He still obstinately lay 
in the bottom of the boat ; and upon our reite- 
rating the questions as to the motive, made use 
only of idiotic- gesticulations, such as raising 
with his forefinger the upper lip, and display- 
ing the teeth which lay beneath it.' These 
were black. We had never before seen the 
teeth of an inhabitant of Tsalal. 

March 8.— To-day there floated by us one of 
the white animals whose appearance upon the 
beach at Tsalal had occasioned so wild a com- 
motion among the savages. I would have 
picked it up, but there came over me a sudden 
listlessness, and \1 forbore. The heat of the 
water still increased, and the hand could no 
longer be endured within it. Peters spoke 
little, and I knew not what to think of his 
apathy. Nu-Nu breathed, and no more. 



March 9. — The white ashy material fell now 
continually around us, and in vast quantities.. 
The range of vapour to the southward had : 
arisen prodigiously in the horizon, and began. 
to assume more distinctness of form. I can. 
liken it to nothing but a limitless cataract, roll- 
ing silently into the sea from some immense- 
and far-distant rampart in the heaven. The- 
gigantic curtain ranged along the whole extent 
of the southern horizon. It emitted no- 
sound. 

March 21, — A. sullen darkness now hovered 
above us; but from out the milky depths of the 
ocean a luminous glare arose, and stole up- 
along the bulwarks of the boat. We were 
nearly overwhelmed by the white ashy shower 
which settled upon us and upon the canoe, but 
melted into the water as it fell. The summit 
of the cataract was utterly lost in the dimness- 
and the distance. Yet we were evidently ap- 
proaching it with a hideous velocity. At in- 
tervals there were visible in it wide, yawning, 
but momentary rents, and from out these rents,, 
within which was a chaos of flitting and indis- 
tinct images, there came rushing and mighty, 
but soundless winds, tearing up the enkindled 
ocean in their course. * * * 



NOTE. 



The circumstances connected with the late 
sudden and distressing death of Mr. Pym are 
already known to the public through the me- 
dium of the daily press. It is feared that the 
few remaining chapters which were to have 
completed his narrative, and which were re- 
tained by him, while the above were in type, 
for the purpose of revision, have been irre- 
coverably lost through the accident by which 
he perished. This, however, may prove not to 
he the case, and the papers, if ultimately found, 
will be given to the public. 

No means have been left untried to remedy 
the deficiency. The gentleman whose name is 
mentioned in the preface, and who, from the 
statement there made, might be supposed able 
to fill the vacuum, has declined the task — this 
for satisfactory reasons connected with the 
general inaccuracy of the details afforded him, 
and his disbelief in the entire truth of the latter 
portions of the narration. Peters, from whom 
some information might be expected, is still 
alive, and a resident of Illinois, but cannot be 
met with at present. He may hereafter be 
found, and will, no doubt, afford material for a 
conclusion of Mr. Pym's account. 

The loss of the two or three final chapters 



(for there were but two or three) is the more 
deeply to be regretted, as it cannot be doubted 
they contained matter relative to the Pole it- 
self, or at least to regions in its very near 
proximity ; and as, too, the statements of the 
author in relation to these regions may shortly 
be verified or contradicted by means of the 
governmental expedition now preparing for the 
Southern Ocean. 

On one point in the narrative some remarks 
may be well offered ; and it would afford the 
writer of this appendix much pleasure if what 
he may here observe should have a tendency 
to throw credit, in any degree, upon the very 
singular pages now published. We allude to 
the chasms found in the Island of Tsalal, and 
to the whole of the figures upon the preceding 
pages. 

Mr. Pym has given the figures of the chasms 
without comment, and speaks decidedly of the 
indentures found at the extremity of the most 
easterly of these chasms as having but a fanciful 
resemblance to alphabetical characters, and, in 
short, as being positively not such. This as- 
sertion is made in a manner so simple, and sus- 
tained by a species of demonstration so con- 
clusive (viz. the fitting of the projections of 



74 



THfi NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



the fragments found among the dust into the 
indentures upon the wall), that we are forced 
to believe the writer in earnest; and no 
reasonable reader should suppose otherwise. 
But as the facts in relation to all the figures are 
most singular (especially when taken in con- 
nexion with statements made in the body of 
the narrative), it may be as well to say a word 
or two concerning them all— this, too, the more 
especially as the facts in question have, beyond 
doubt, escaped the attention of Mr. Poe. 

Figure 1, then figure 2, figure 3, and figure 5, 
when conjoined with one another in the pre- 
cise order which the chasms themselves pre- 
sented, and when deprived of the small lateral 
branches or arches (which, it will be remem- 
bered, served only as means of communication 
between the main chambers, and were of totally 
distinct character), constitute an Ethiopian 

verbal root— the root f{£^& " To be 
shady" — whence all the inflections of shadow 
or darkness. 

In regard to the " left or most northwardly" 
of the indentures in figure 4, it is more than 
probable that the opinion of Peters was correct, 
and that the hieroglyphical appearance was 
really the work of art, and intended as a repre- 
sentation of a human form. The delineation 
is before the reader, and he may, or may not, 
perceive the resemblance suggested ; but the 
rest of the indentures afford strong confirmation 
of Peter's idea. The upper range is evidently 

the Arabic verbal root r 'SX /\Q "To be 

white," whence all the inflections of brilliancy 
and whiteness. The lower range is not so im- 



mediately perspicuous. The characters are 
somewhat broken and disjointed; nevertheless, 
it cannot be doubted that, in their perfect 
state, they formed the full Egyptian word 

IIWYPHC, "The region of the 

south." It should be observed that these in- 
terpretations confirm the opinion of Peters in 
regard to the " most northwardly" of the 
figures. The arm is outstretched towards the 
south. 

Conclusions such as these open a wide field 
for speculation and exciting conjecture. They 
should be regarded, perhaps, in connexion with 
some of the most faintly detailed incidents of 
the narrative ; although in no visible manner is 
this chain of connexion complete. Tekeli-li! was 
the cry of the affrighted natives of Tsalal upon 
discovering the carcass of the white animal 
picked up at sea. This also was the shuddering 
exclamation of the captive Tsalalian upon en- 
countering the white materials in possession of 
Mr. Pym. This also was the shriek of the 
swift-flying white and gigantic birds which 
issued from the vapoury white curtain of the 
south. Nothing white was to be found at Tsalal, 
and nothing otherwise in the subsequent voyage 
to the region beyond. It is not impossible that 
" Tsalal," the appellation of the island of the 
chasms, may be found, upon minute philological 
scrutiny, to betray either some alliance with 
the chasms themselves, or some reference to the 
Ethiopian characters so mysteriously written 
in their windings. 

" / have graven it within the hills, and my 
vengeance upon the dust within the rock." 



END OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. 



THE ESMERALDA. 



The brilliant exploit on which the following story is founded, was performed in the early part of the 
revolution in Peru. San Martin, after freeing Chili from the Spanish yoke, had pushed his army to the 
very gates of Lima; and with the co-operation of Lord Cochrane by sea, took possession of the ancient 
capital of Peru, soon after the occurrences here detailed. 



It was on a bright and sunny summer evening 
that a curious cavalcade was seen issuing from 
the gate of Lima, and taking the road to Callao. 
It was composed of the "liberty men"* of the 
American frigate Macedonian, then lying in the 
harbour. A crowd of Peruvian boys followed 
it, and the very sentinels forgot their military 
gravity, and indulged in the irrepressible laugh- 
ter which it excited. First came some half 
dozen sailors, arm in arm, whom a tiny mid- 
shipman in vain strove to keep in order. Then 
followed some dozen mules, each carrying two 
drunken sailors, slung like panniers, amidships, 
and guided by a stout Peruvian lad, seated en 
croupe. Two or three midshipmen, with some 
twenty steady fellows of the crew, brought up 
the rear. The pinioned tars had no idea of the 
propriety of their mode of conveyance, and 
vented all their tipsy rage on the " after-guard," 
as they styled the driver. But once on shore 
during a three years' cruise, the sailors had gone 
from the extreme of temperance and abstinence 
to the extreme of excess ; and having spent 
their last dollar, were now literally carried 
back to Iheir vessel. Those in front, as they 
passed the soldiers, cocked their eyes, thrust 
their tongues into their cheeks, and throwing 
out their legs horizontally, performed the 
mock military to perfection ; then bursting 
into a roar of laughter at their own wit, trod 
on each other's heels, kicked each other's 
shins, shouted "heads up, ye lubbers," and 
set order at complete defiance. The living 
panniers were less noisy, and groaned and hic- 
cuped their discontent at being " triced up," to 
such heavy sailers, as they termed the mules ; 
kicked the sides of the animals, aimed inef- 
fectual blows at the " after-guard," and ran 
desperate risk of life, as some restive beast, 
throwing his heels in the air, threatened to dis- 
lodge them. The rear, exhilarated, but not 
tipsy, with just enough aboard to show off the 
sailor to perfection, cracked their jokes, trolled 
their songs, practised their manual fun upon 
the drunkards, and moved most merrily along. 
By dint of driving and swearing, the procession 
was urged over the seven miles from Lima to 
the sea, and reached Callao just as the sun 
flashed his last rays upon the Chilian brig, 
which was cruising, hull down, in the offing. 
The wharf or quay, alongside of which the fri- 

* Sailors on shore with leave. 



gate's boats were lying in readiness to receive 
the " liberty men," was crowded with people. 
Sailors, soldiers, guarda-costas, Indians, and 
idlers of all descriptions, were collected there. 
The clattering of the oars of newly-arrived 
boats, the roll and splash of those leaving the 
landing, the voice of command, the English and 
American " God damn," the Spanish " Ca- 
ramba," the French " Sacre," and the Dutch 
" Der teufel," were all heard, and were all 
mingled in the general clamour and hurry 
at the close of day. These sounds were 
dying away as the Americans approached the 
quay ; and by the time that the " liberty men" 
were tumbled aboard the two cutters and pin- 
nace, nobody remained to witness their depar- 
ture but a few guarda-costas, whose duty de- 
tained them along the shore. 

It was a beautiful and tranquil bay, across 
which the Macedonian's boats now pulled. On 
the right lay the castles of Callao, the long line 
of ramparts serried with the bayonets of the 
Spanish soldiers. On the left, anchored head 
and stern, were the frigates Macedonian and 
Esmeralda, the latter a new ship, fully armed, 
provisioned, manned, and equipped for a six 
months' cruise ; and a little farther out lay the 
British frigate Hyperion ; all three within half 
gun-shot of the castles. Within the men-of- 
war the merchantmen were securely moored. 
A few black whale ships dotted the bay ; and 
far off, in the shadow of the island of San Lo- 
renzo, lay the patriot blockading squadron of 
Lord Cochrane. 

The stern sheets of the pinnace were occupied 
by two midshipmen. At home, by his own fire- 
side on the Roanoke, the youngest would have 
been called a boyj; but here in the Pacific, the 
officer of a Yankee frigate, it would have been 
sword and pistol work to have rated him any 
thing but a man. There was an air, too, of 
command about him which sustained his pre- 
tensions to the character; and the sailors at 
the oars regarded him with that respectful 
kindness and ready obedience that showed 
he was a favourite among the crew. In place 
of a chapeau bras, like that worn by his 
companion, the large straw sombrero of the 
Peruvians lay beside him, while a black 
handkerchief, twisted around his head, 
shielded it from the damp air which al- 
ready began to float over the water. " In the 
name of sense, Hal," said his companion, 



76 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



taking up the sombrero, and measurirg its 
immense brim against the sky, "where did 
you get this upper rigging ? and what boot did 
you give in exchanging a chapeau ?*' " It is 
loo long a yarn to spin now," said the Vir- 
ginian, evidently willing to avoid the subject; 
" put the broad brim down, and mind the yoke 
ropes. Here we are athwart the hawse of a 
merchantman." The sudden shock which 
threw the oars out of the rowlocks,- created 
a confusion on board the pinnace, which 
effectually interrupted the conversation. The 
hail from the merchantman was answered. The 
commands "back water;" "steady;" "pull 
yer starboard oars ;" " altogether now ;" "give 
way, boys," followed in quick succession ; and 
the pinnace shot by the obstacle which had 
momentarily checked its progress. All the 
vessels which the boat had hitherto passed 
had hailed it at the usual distance, and it was 
now directly under the bows of the Esme- 
ralda. " Strange that the Spanish frigate does 
not hail," said the Virginian. " So fine a ship 
should have a livelier watch on board. A 
sleepy dog that, whose bayonet I see just abaft, 
the mainmast." "They're deep in a frolic," 
replied his companion ; " I met a crowd of 
Spanish gentlemen going on board to dine, as I 
came ashore this morning, and the guarda costa 
at the landing told me that they had not re- 
turned at sundown." " The more fools they," 
answered the other, " to blow it out with 
Cochrane at two gunshots of them." " He 
is not the man to interrupt them," was the 
reply; "he lies so idly under the island that 
Iris men will soon not know brace from bunt- 
line." " I don't know," continued the Vir- 
ginian^ " his vessels showed their teeth pretty 
plainly as we made the land here, and his flag- 
ship walked across our fore foot in as gallant 
a style as I have seen this many a day." " No- 
thing but show," said the other. "The com- 
modore did not think so, however, or else all 
the hands would have beat to quarters, the 
ship cleared for action, bulk heads down, decks 
sanded, and matches smoking. No, no. 
Cochrane will be alongside of the Esmeralda 
yet, and that before long. It may be super- 
stition, Will, but for a commodore's broad 
pennant I would not sling my hammock to- 
night to the best battens on board of her. In 
my eye she looks like a doomed ship. Her 
sails bent, her guns run out, and yet so still. 
Not a living soul to speak to us from her deck; 
no sound about her but the rippling of the tide 
against her hawse." The farther remarks of 
the Virginian were interrupted by the loud 
hail from the Macedonian. It was promptly 
answered, and in a short time the sailors and 
their officers stood upon the deck of the frigate. 
The bustle occasioned by the arrival of the 
boats was soon over. The sailors betook 
themselves to the forecastle, and became 
listeners to an interminable love song, which 
a sentimental blue jacket was droning forth to 
his companions. The officers, after reporting 
themselves on the quarter-deck, either turned 



in for the night, or joined the different groups 
that were lounging about the after-part of the 
ship. Seated on the breech of a gun, with his 
sombrero on his knee, and sur roundedby a 
crowd of reefers, was the Virginian. The 
Peruvian hat had already been tried on the 
heads of all around, and made the subject of 
sailors' jests ; and assuming all the dignity of 
one who was aware of the interest attached to 
his story, its owner commenced his account of 
the manner in which he obtained it, and the 
cause of his wearing it. 

" You see, reefers, the purser and I having 
come to a reckoning, I determined to have a 
regular blow out in Lima : not a tipsy spree, 
you understand, but something to recall the 
Roanoke and old Virginia. So off I started 
in the cutter ; and having reached the shore, 
I hired the horse of a guarda-costa, to carry 
me to town, and engaged its master to serve me 
as a guide. I took the sheep skins, and he 
trudged it on foot. It was sunset when we 
left the wharf, and before we had proceeded, 
half way the mist came rolling over from the 
sea, and concealed from our view even the 
trees which lined the sides of the road. We 
were the only travellers. Some loaded mules 
passed us ; but, with the exception of these, we 
were the solitary occupants of the king's high- 
way. I possessed Spanish sufficient to main- 
tain a broken conversation with the guarda- 
costa, and we chatted cosily enough, until we 
heard the clatter of a horse's hoofs upon the 
road behind us. In another moment, a horse- 
man, nobly mounted, but dressed in the poncho 
and sombrero of the country, dashed by us at 
full speed. He came and he was gone. Here 
and away. Lightning could scarcely have been 
quicker. But still, as on he galloped, I was 
struck with his appearance. I noticed that he 
rode with civilized stirrups, and not the wooden 
shoes of the Peruvians. I thought, too, that 
he had holsters ; and I would swear to the 
long, straight sword which clinked against the 
stirrup iron. Small time for an observation, 
you say. Well, so it was ; but time enough 
for all. The guarda-costa saw every thing that 
I did. 'Bravo !' he said, as the stranger, un- 
moved in his saddle, bore the wide leap which 
his startled horse made in passing. ' Bueno 
Cabullero ! That fellow sits well, signor.' 
' Like a hero,' replied I, equally pleased with 
the dexterity of the horseman; but before 
the words had passed my lips he had dis- 
appeared, and we again moved solitarily 
along. When he had pioceeded about a mile 
farther, to our great surprise, the single horse- 
man again dashed by us at his utmost speed. 
But this time he came in the direction of Lima, 
and rode so furiously as almost to capsize the 
guarda-costa. After passing us he turned at 
right angles to the road, and continued his way 
far to our left. He had scarcely vanished in the 
mist before a vidette of Spanish cavalry came on 
us, with almost equal speed. The officer com- 
manding it reined his horse upon its haunches 
beside me, and asked imperatively the direc- 



THE ESMERALDA. 



tion taken by the single horseman, whose ap- 
pearance and dress he described. I, however, 
had no idea of turning informer, so I pretended 
not to understand him, and talked as fast in 
English as he did in Spanish. He cursed big 
and large, and then repeated his questions to 
the guarda-costa. I was afraid that all would 
be blown now, and was consoling myself by 
calculating the advantage the delay had given 
to the fugitive, when 1 heard my guide log a 
deliberate lie, in assuring the Spaniard that 
' Cabuilero' had pushed on to Callao ; and in a 
moment more, the vidette were, as they sup- 
posed, pushing after him. We now continued 
our way. The Peruvian chuckled, and did not 
pretend to conceal his satisfaction at having 
crossed the trail of the vidette. ' Santa 
Maria! how he rode?' said the guarda-costa, 
as if thinking aloud ; ' and those cursed 
Spaniards, to think to overtake him.' ' You 
speak roughly of your friends,' said I. 
' Friends !' repeated the man, in as fiendish a 
tone as I ever heard. He laid his hand upon 
the pummel of the saddle, threw back the 
broad brim of his straw hat, and rose many 
inches in height, as he darted his quick keen 
eyes full in my face, to read in the deep gloom 
the expression of my countenance. For a mo- 
ment he looked cautiously round, and then 
rapidly whispered. ' I, signor, am a Peruvian, 
but not a free-born man. Who made me, who 
made the lncas slaves? — the Spaniards.' The 
guarda-costa paused; then, pointing first in the 
direction of San Martin's camp, and then 
towards the Chilian fleet, he continued in the 
same energetic tone. ' No, signor, there are 
our friends.' I scarcely recognised the stupid 
custom-house drudge in the man who now ad- 
dressed me. His extended arm — his bold car- 
riage — his upright figure, which loomed large 
in the evening mist, belonged, I thought, to 
another being. But the change was mo- 
mentary. Tne soldier turned slowly away, 
and before I could reply he was again as when 
I hired him. 

" In the mean time we approached the city. 
The guarda costa appeared to have struck upon 
a train of thought wliich w r as far from pleasing, 
for he strode rapidly along, and occasionally 
muttered discontented sounds, as thought came 
unwittingly to his tongue. I tried to catch his 
meaning, without success. His sullen answers 
prevented conversation, and we proceeded most 
unsociably, until challenged by the sentinel at 
the gate. ' Que viva V sounded hoarsely from 
beneath the old archway. 'San Martin,' 
fiercely replied my guide. In a moment the 
musket of the Spanish soldier on guard rattled 
in his hands. I heard the sharp click as he 
cocked it. Another moment and the guarda- 
costa had been a dead man. I sprung from my 
horse in time to strike up the levelled weapon, 
and shouted ' Viva le rty /' in tones that 
brought the whole guard to the spot. My 
guide was more alarmed than I was. San 
Martin was uppermost in his thoughts, and the 
name of the patriot chief, at which^the Li- 



manians trembled, was pronounced, instead of 
the usual reply to the hail of the Spanish sen- 
tinel. We were now overhauled by the officers 
on duty ; and after some impertinent exami- 
nation, I was damned as a North American, 
and suffered to proceed. My guide, however, 
was detained. This was unlucky enough. I 
knew nothing of Lima, and none of those, 
whom the bustle at the gate had collected, 
seemed at all disposed to assist me. Recol- 
lecting that Frank Lindesay's horse, in old 
Virginia, and I rode it often enough to know, 
stopped at all the grog-shops, I threw the reins 
on the neck of my steed, hoping that he would 
carry me to the place where his master usually 
put up. The animal's intentions may have 
been good, but I soon saw that the crowd was 
determined to thwart them. To make a long 
story short, I was in the centre of a Lima mob, 
led on by a little contemptible-looking rascal, 
who persuaded the people that I was the head 
spy of San Martin's army. At first I pre- 
tended not to understand what was said, but my 
valour at last got the better of my discretion, 
and I could not resist the temptation of putting 
my fist between the eyes of a villain who was 
grinning his impudence in my face. This 
brought things to a crisis : ' A la muerte' was 
the cry, and the last thing I can recollect was 
a blow on the temple, which brought me to the 
ground. 

" How long I remained insensible, I cannot 
exactly say. When I recovered, I found that 
1 had been laid at the door of a huge church,, 
under the idea, I suppose, that I was dead. 
I felt miserably stiff and cold, and for some 
minutes did not attempt to move ; at last, after 
one or two efforts, I got upon my feet, and as- 
certained that my limbs were unbroken, and 
that my doubloons were still at the bottom of 
my fob. Some Peruvian gentleman had 
taken a fancy to my watch, and to a 
new chapeau, mounted for the occasion. He 
might have spared them, as they were borrowed, 
articles. No matter, however ; the watch never 
had any insides, and the hat must have suffered, 
pretty severely in the scuffle. The first thing; 
I did, on turning round, was to peep in at the' 
door of the church, which stood conveniently 
ajar. As I peeped in, some one from the inte- 
rior peeped out ; for I thrust my nose into the 
pale face of a tall, monkish-looking person, 
who was about leaving the building. Both of 
us were sadly scared, and starting back, we 
stood staring at each other in the starlight, 
until, recovering the first from the panic pro- 
duced by the unexpected rencontre, I turned 
and ran with the best speed my stiff limbs 
would admit of. After going a considerable 
distance, I stopped to listen. No sounds came 
from the direction of the church; but from the 
opposite quarter, I heard the steps and clatter- 
ing arms of a relief of soldiers. I stood by a. 
low garden wall, and in a moment I was on the 
other side of it. The relief passed by, and the^ 
noise it made was soon lost in the turnings of 
the streets. I was now in a large and handsome 



78 



THE NOVEL NEWSPAPER. 



garden. The smooth walks, the fountain which 
tossed its waters so coolly on the night, the 
broad grass-plats, the rows of flowers, the 
neatly-trimmed hedges, amused me for some 
time; and resolving to await here the return of 
light, I threw myself upon a garden bench, and 
summoned all the recollections of past plea- 
sures, to assist the slow progress of time. But 
time, notwithstanding, took his own way, and 
jogged most lazily on. I got up — I drank at 
the fountain — I walked about, and at last, at- 
tracted by the sound of music, set myself to 
discover whence it proceeded. After losing it, 
and recovering it several times, I found myself 
under the verandah of the house to which the 
garden was attached, and which some lines of 
tall hedges had at first prevented me from see- 
ing. Curiosity brought me to the house ; 
curiosity led me into the verandah ; and curio- 
sity placed me snugly enough at the window of 
the very room in which the musician was. Of 
course I went on tiptoe, and scarcely daring to 
breathe, ventured to peep into the apartment ; 
intending, if all things permitted, to discover 
myself and ask for a night's lodging, and a hat 
of some sort or other. The room was a large 
one, lighted by a shaded lamp, which hung 
from the ceiling, and made every thing appear 
soft and moonshiny. Next to the window at 
which I sat was the door leading to the verandah, 
directly opposite to which was another door, 
and in the right-hand wall a third, of a much 
smaller size, might have led to a sleeping apart- 
ment. A table covered with a crimson cloth 
stood in the centre, and upon a sofa beside it, 
and opposite to the small door, was reclining 
the minstrel of the hour. The guitar which 
had attracted me was lying on the table, and 
the lady who had touched it was reading what 
appeared to me to be a letter. I'll tell you 
what, reefers, she was worth looking at ; I 
could not see her eyes, but then her exquisite 
figure, and the prettiest little foot you ever 
beheld, seen to such advantage on the dark 
covering of the sofa, and her jet black hair, 
and beautiful mouth, and high commanding 
forehead — she was a glorious craft, such as 1 
have not seen since I left old Virginia. 

" Thinks I, she can't be hard-hearted enough 
to refuse me shelter, and I was on the point of 
giving an introductory ' hem !' when, ' tap, tap, 
tap,' on the opposite door, announced a visitor. 
Not at all alarmed; the lady put away the letter, 
and answering the summons, introduced a tall, 
strapping fellow, dressed in the common ap- 
parel of a guarda-costa. Matters looked pro- 
mising, I thought, for another adventure, and 
drawing myself a little farther from the window, 
I awaited it. The guarda costa sat down without 
much ceremony, and had not uttered twenty 
words before I ascertained the whole secret of 
the matter, and heard some of the finest love 
speeches that were ever made to mortal Avoman, 
so far as my knowledge of Spanish enabled me 
to comprehend them." 

<{ Let us have them, Hal, do," said the lis- 



teners, crowding even closer round the orator. 
He shook his head, and proceeded. 

" Such things always lose in the telling, and 
are, in fact, arrant nonsense to all but the parties 
interested. The Peruvian took off his straw 
hat, and showed a noble countenance, and a 
head of thick and curling hair. He threw the 
poncho over his shoulder, and I saw, plainly 
enough, the uniform of one of San Martin's 
officers ; ^another glance, and I became con- 
vinced that this was the stranger whose horse- 
manship had excited my admiration on my way 
from Callao. It was not very fair to be a 
listener, I allow ; but I considered the Peruvian 
as a friend, having seen him before, and curiosity 
to see a real love affair, after one or two twinges, 
overcame all scruples of conscience. From 
what I could gather, the lady was the daughter 
of a Spanish royalist, and the officer was a lover 
of unprecedented constancy. Duty to his 
country had made him join the patriots ; duty 
to her father had retained the lady at Lima, 
while her lover was conquering with San Mar- 
tin and approaching the capital of Peru. Ar- 
rived at last in its neighbourhood, and fearing 
for her safety if the place was entered by 
force, he had obtained admission to the town 
in disguise, appointed the present hour, in the 
letter which 1 had seen her reading, for an in- 
terview, and now urged her rapid and immediate 
flight with him to Valparaiso, in a vessel lying 
in the harbour. She spoke of her father, his 
hatred of the patriot cause, and his consequent 
inveteracy against her lover ; she urged her 
duty, and the danger of flight. To all this my 
friend pleaded like a hero, as I have no doubt 
he is. He rose from the seat which he had oc- 
cupied beside her, and paced the room with 
impatient steps ; and, at last, stopping before 
her with his back turned towards the smaller 
door, began to repeat his arguments for flight. 
Suddenly her eye became fixed, the colour fled 
from her face ; she looked as if she would have 
screamed, but could not. Her lover bent for- 
ward with anxious eagerness, and vainly so- 
licited the cause of her visible alarm. I saw 
it, and one moment more found me involved in 
difficulty and adventure. While the impetuous 
lover was detailing his plans, the smaller door 
had been pushed gently open, and a person, 
whom I can swear was the father, followed by 
two others, all well armed, entered the room, 
and sprung towards the Peruvian. I shrieked 
aloud, however, before they reached him, and 
he turned in time for defence. In a moment 
the broad straight sword was gleaming over the 
head of the companion of the old man, and 
would have descended fatally had it not struck 
against and extinguished the only light in the 
chamber, that hanging from the ceiling. All 
was shrieking and screaming for a moment, 
when some one jumped from the open window, 
overturned me, and darted into the garden. I 
was now very seriously bruised, and, when 
lights were brought, was discovered lying in 
the verandah. But the Peruvian was gone 



THE ESMERALDA. 



79 



and the lady was no where to be found. The 
broken glass of the lamp, and an immense 
straw hat, were all that remained in evidence of 
the occurrence. 

" The old don swore at me until he was ex- 
hausted, and shut me up for the night in the 
cellar, as an accomplice of the Peruvian. In 
the morning, he carried me before a magis- 
trate, who would have committed me to prison, 
had I not been recognised by a Spanish gentle- 
man, who had seen me in the frigate. By his 
exertions I was released ; and with the som- 
brero of the runaway lover to pay me for 
bruises and broken bones, I joined the liberty 
boys ; and here I am, spinning long yarns to a 
parcel of sleepy reefers." 

The attention of many of the listeners had, 
during the latter part of the Virginian story, 
been diverted by the crowd which had collected 
on the quarter-deck, and were leaning over the 
larboard side of the ship; and the Viginian 
now joined a group of them himself, with the 
question, " Well, reefers, what's the go now ? 
Is this the first time you have seen a whaler's 
boat towing his casks to the watering-place, 
after eight bells ?" '•' Devilish big casks those 
the leading boat has in tow," said a sailor, 
who had ascended a few feet in the main 
shrouds. "Casks!" repeated a midshipman, 
dropping a night-glass at the same time into his 
left hand — "if those black-looking things are 
not boats filled with men, and coming on with a 
long and steady pull, this glass is not worth a 
rotten rope -yarn." Every eye was now exerted 
to its utmost powers of vision; the glass was 
passed from hand to hand, and in a few minutes 
all on deck were satisfied that a long line of 
barges, each crowded with men, was pulling up 
directly astern of the Macedonian. " The 
Scotchman is on the waters to-night," whis- 
pered the Virginian ; " what did I tell you in 
the boat? My life for it, Cochrane is in the 
foremost barge ; and see how he keeps us be- 
tween him and the Esmeralda." His compa- 
nion made no reply, but turned to look at the 
tall masts and taper spars of the Spanish fri- 
gate, and then again upon the advancing boats. 
By this time the word which had been passed 
below had brought the whole ship's crew upon 
deck, every man of whom watched with almost 
breathless interest the approach of the barges. 
The topmen stole silently aloft; and most of 
the sailors and officers instinctively placed them- 
selves in the neighbourhood of their respective 
posts. Not a wave was upon the waters; and 
the night-breeze, as it passed fore and aft the 
ship, was scarcely felt against the cheek. The 
Chilians came on with muffled oars ; and their 
long, steady strokes soon brought them under 
the stern of the Macedonian. So silently did 
they move, that, as they passed alongside, no 
sound of voice or oar could be distinguished ; 
and, clad as they were in white, they seemed 
like a band of spirits, rather than mortal men, 
moving on the deep. No hail was given by the 
American ship. Officers, quarter-masters, 
sailors, were spell-bound with intense interest j 



and the very sentinels seemed to forget thei r 
existence, as they gazed on the Chilians ; whose 
approach, undiscovered by the Spaniards, be* 
came every moment more doubtful. Already 
had they passed, and breaking off alternately to 
the larboard and starboard of the Esmeralda, 
clasped the fated vessel in their embrace. In- 
stead of following in the line, the last of Coch- 
rane's boats pulled under the cabin windows of 
the Macedonian, and held on to the rudder 
chains. The officer commanding begged, en- 
treated, threatened his crew. They would not 
proceed. In sullen cowardice they concealed 
themselves during the combat which followed. 
In vain did the olficers of the Macedonian order 
them to let go, and urge them to avoid dis- 
grace ; the chaplain even joined his entreaties ; 
they made no answer, but kept their place, the 
only cowards of that eventful night. When 
the fight was over, they pulled silently to the 
Esmeralda ; and, preserving the secret of their 
baseness, participated in the honours of the 
occasion. 

In the meantime, one of the barges glided to 
a gunboat, under the bows of the American. 
The clash of sabre upon steel, the words " si- 
lencio o maerte," a hum of voices, a dead stillness, 
and the gunboat had changed masters. This 
broke the spell on board the Macedonian. A 
kedge was carried out, the jib hauled up, the 
chain slipped ; and as the head fell off from the 
wind, a cloud of canvass dropped from her 
spats, and solicited the breeze. Long ere these 
preparations were completed, the Esmeralda 
was the scene of conflict. The first man who 
boarded from the main-chains, after cutting 
down the sentinel at the gangway, was shot by 
the sentinel at the forecastle. Cochrane was 
the next, and in a few moments the deck was 
crowded with his followers. The Spaniards 
were sleeping on their arms ; and as they strug- 
gled from below, the contest became fierce and 
doubtful. There was one pause only, in which 
the assailants ceased to slay, as they watched 
with intense anxiety the effect of the wind upon 
the jib. Had the head fallen towards the shore, 
the Esmeralda must have been deserted and 
burnt by the Chilians ; but fate decreed it 
otherwise, and there was one loud "hurra !" 
as the bows gently turned towards the island 
of San Lorenzo. The Chilian sailors on the 
spars soon clothed the vessel with her canvass. 
From royals to courses every sail was set ; and 
falling astern of the Macedonian, the Esmeralda 
followed her slowly from the shore. 

The fight continued while the vessel got under 
weigh; and"Jesu!" "Santa Maria!" " Ca- 
ramba !" joined with English oaths and excla- 
mations, came loud through the din of battle. 
At one time the voice of Lord Cochrane was 
heard encouraging his men, and ordering more 
sail to be packed upon the spars. Then came 
a volley of fire arms, which drowned all sounds 
besides, and illuminating the deck, showed the 
rapid gleam of descending sabres. Then there 
would be a momentary pause, as one party or 
the other gained a temporary advantage ; and 



•so 



the Novel newspaper, 



then again the wild uproar swelled with re- 
doubled fury. At last the Chilians, collecting 
In a dense mass upon the quarter-deck, made a 
quick and fierce charge upon their opponents. 
It was met, and for an instant met successfully ; 
but the strength of the Spaniards was broken, 
and the next moment they were heard dropping 
into the sea, as their pursuers forced them over 
"the bows. The spar-deck was now still ; but 
below all was confusion. A gun-brig, which 
."had repelled its assailants, fired its single piece 
«of artillery directly under the cabin windows 
ejf the Esmeralda; and the indiscriminate 
.'slaughter of friend and foe was the consequence. 
This, however, produced no effect upon the 
combatants ; and the victory on the gun-deck 
■was still doubtful, when Cochrane, with his 
-successful followers, rushed down the gangway, 
rand quickly decided the fate of the Spaniards. 
'The wave was their only refuge ; and springing 
ffrom the ports, some gained the shore by swim- 
tfning, others found their graves where they fell. 

The Virginian and his companion in the 
'cutter had watched the progress of the fight 
from their station in the foretop of the Mace- 
■donian, and were still gazing on the deck of the 
^Esmeralda, when a flash from the shore, the 
iowl of a ball passing between the masts, and 
the dull report of a cannon, drew their attention 
to another quarter. Lights were seen hurrying, 
;alongthe ramparts of the fortress of Callao, and 
the sound of drums came faintly from them. 
Plash after flash succeeded the first in quick 
succession, until one continued stream of fire 
gushed from the line of batteries. To the eyes 
of the young men eveiy gun seemed intended es- 
pecial y for them. " What ! not a spar gone yet? 
And only one hole through the maintopsail ?" 
saidthe Virginian at last, after coolly casting his 
oyes upwards upon the canvass of the ship. " It 
•can't be so long, however; the light duck 
scarcely draws, and the courses and topsails 
hang like lead. There goes the cross-jack 
yard," he continued, as the crash of splintered 
wood was heard upon the quarter- deck. " The 
lanterns at the peak and jib-boom end would 
Jiave distinguished us from the Esmeralda if 
Cochrane had not hoisted them as soon as we 
did." "By heavens! though, there goes his 
peak light," cried his companion, as a shot 
severed the rope. The lantern fell over into the 
sea, floated a moment, and was extinguished. 

A better aim on the part of the Spanish gun- 
ners, or the gradual approach of the vessel 
within the range of some of the cannon of the 
fortress, made the situation of the ship more 
perilous than it yet had been ; and three or four 
Wis almost grazed the heads of the foretop 
men. Still, both spar and sail were uninjured ; 
and the only effect of the shot was to hush the 
whispered conversation which had been hitherto 
maintained. 

This silence was at last interrupted by an in- 
terjectional whistle from the Virginian, as a 
shot went through the sail immediately above 
him. " This firing will deaden the wind until 



canvass nor duck will hold it : and the Scotch, 
man hangs on our quarter, determined that, if 
he sinks, so shall we." " Don't whistle for 
the wind, Mister — " said an old sailor, in a su- 
perstitious tone; "it nevsr comes when it is 
called, and we want it too much to anger it." 
*' That whistle brought it, though," cried the 
other. " The Esmeralda's courses draw, and 
our heavy sails begin to feel it ; we'll walk yet, 
if the puff holds." The communication was 
accompanied with a visible change in the spirits' 
of the seamen, as the sail, after one or two 
heaves, swelled steadily before the wind. The 
progress of the vessel, however, was still slow, 
although the danger every moment decreased, 
and it was upwards of an hour before the shot 
of the fortress fell short. Daylight by this 
time began to dawn, and showed the sullen 
batteries, surmounted by a heavy dun cloud, 
and frowning over a bay which they had so 
fruitlessly attempted to guard. The Macedo- 
nian cast anchor far beyond their reach, and 
the Esmeralda, uninjured, and in gallant style, 
moved towards the island of San Lorenzo. 

During this eventful night, the captain of the 
American frigate had been detained in Lima, 
and at sunrise of the second day after the fight, 
the launch and gig were ordered down to Cho- 
rillos to meet him, and to receive on board such 
Americans as feared the consequences of re- 
maining in the city, during the first moments of 
excitement which would follow the capture of 
the Esmeralda. The gig was commanded by 
our friend the Virginian, and after a long and 
iieavv pull, he found himself beneath the high 
and rugged cliffs of Chorillos. Here the boats 
remained without the surf, while the Indians, 
wading through it, brought the passengers on 
b'oajd. " All aboard," had been already cried, 
arid the oars were in the rowlocks to return, 
when the appearance of a troop of San Martin's 
cavalry on shore, and their loud shouts and 
earnest beckonings, delayed their departure. 
As the sailors rested on their oars, an officer, 
who appeared to be the commander of the sol- 
• diers, came hurrying to the beach, bearing on 
his arms a female, whose horse he had been 
seen to guide, as his troops came full gallop on. 
He gave her to the huge Indian who offered his 
assistance, and followed him into the surf. A 
^nhortand low conversation was held between San 
J Vlartin's officer and the American commander. 
'j The former then returned to the shore, and the 
1 atter gave his rapid orders to proceed to Callao. 
By evening the party were again in the frigate, 
and a knot was soon seen to assemble round 
the young Virginian, as on the preceding even- 
ing. He seemed to be urging a doubtful point 
with peculiar energy. " How did I know 
1 them? Why didn't I see him plain enough in 
i he room, and didn't I hear his plan of getting 
1 ter to Valparaiso ? The captain ordered me to 
t he launch, but not before I saw her face. No,^ 
r eeiers, no ! True love got the weathergage ot 
t .he old don, her father, in Lima, and kept it at 
1 Chorillos." 



J, Cunningham, Printer, Cipuvn « 'Jourt, Fleet Street, London. , 






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